LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA
SAN DIEGO
RATIONAL ILLUSTRATION
BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER
CHURCH OF ENGLAND:
THE SUBSTANCE OF EVERY THING LITURGICAL IN
BISHOP SPARROW, MR. L'ESTRANGE, DR. COMBER, DR. NICHOLS,
AND ALL FORMER RITUALISTS, COMMENTATORS, AND
OTHERS, UPON THE SAME SUBJECT.
CHARLES WHEATLY, M.A.
VICAR OP BRENT AND FURNEUX PELHAM IN HERTFORDSHIRE.
LONDON :
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
MDCCCXLIX.
JOHMf GUILDS AXD SOX, HtXOAY.
THE PREFACE.
IN a former edition of this book, which was printed in folio, I was
at a loss in what manner I was to address the reader ; that is, whe-
ther I was to bespeak his candour as to an entire new book, or
whether only the continuance of it as to a new edition of an old one.
I called it indeed the third edition in the title-page ; though I think
I had but little other reason for doing so, than my having twice
published a treatise upon the same subject before. For scarce a
fifth part of what I then offered to the world was printed from
either of the former editions ; nor had so much of them as I have
mentioned been continued entire, had I foreseen how little I should
have confined myself to the rest. But when it first went to the
press, I had no other design than to have reprinted it exactly from
the second edition ; except that I had yielded to the request of the
booksellers, who, being encouraged by the quick sale of two large
impressions, in a smaller volume, were willing to run the hazard of
one in a larger size. This was all the alteration I proposed : nor
did I think of any other, till the introductory discourse, the whole
first chapter, and great part of the second, were worked off from the
press; which therefore, for the most part, stand just as they did
before, and not in the method into which I should have thrown
them, had I known from the beginning what alterations I should
have made. However, the reader will have no reason to complain ;
since though the form would have been different, the arguments
notwithstanding must have been much the same : and they sure
will appear to a better advantage by standing entire, and in the
light they are set by the authors themselves, from whom I have
borrowed them, than if they had been broke into comments and
notes, and produced in parcels, as the rubrics would have required ;
which was the method I afterwards thought fit to pursue.* For
* I desire that what I have said may be principally understood of the introductory
discourse (which is almost verbally transcribed from Dr. Bennet's Brief History of the
joint Use of precomposed set Forms of Prayer) and of the three first sections of the se-
cond chapter ; for the first of which I am partly obliged to bishop Beveridge's Discourse
on The Necessity and Advantage of Public Prayer; for the second to Dr. Cave's Pri-
mitive Christianity ; and for the third to Mr. Roberts's excellent Sermon at the Primary
Visitation of the late bishop of Exeter at Oakhampton. The two following sections of
that chapter are pretty much in the method I afterwards observed, and so for the most
part is the whole first chapter ; for the first division of which (concerning the Tables
and Rules) I must not forget to repeat the acknowledgments I have more than once
made to the learned Dr. Brett.
A 2
IV THE PREFACE.
when I observed at the close of the second chapter, (which is upon
the general rubric concerning The Order for Morning and Evening
Prayer,) that I had taken no notice in what part of the Church Di-
vine Service should be performed, (the appointment of which was
yet the principal design of the first part of that rubric,) I not only
found it necessary to add a new section to supply that defect ; but
taking the hint, to examine how I had managed the rubrics in ge-
neral, I perceived that I had been equally deficient in most of
them ; and that consequently, to make the work truly useful, the
like additions would be necessary through the whole.
The occasion of this defect in the two first editions was owing to
a neglect of those parts of our offices in all who had writ upon the
Liturgy before me : for as I never, till the third edition, attempted
any further than to give the substance and sum of what others had
treated of more at large ; it could not be expected, that the epitome,
or abridgment, should give more light than the books from whence
it was taken supplied. However, as I considered the price of my
own book would then be very considerably advanced, I thought it
but reasonable to make the purchaser what amends I was able,
by putting it into his hands as complete as I could.
To this end I applied myself, in the first place, to the comparing
our Liturgy, as it stands at present, with the first Common Prayer
Book of King Edward VI., and with all the reviews that have been
taken of it since : from whence, together with the history of com-
piling it, and of the several alterations it has undergone from time
to time, I easily foresaw the rubrics would be best illustrated and
explained. Nor have I found myself disappointed in the advantage
I proposed ; for I do not remember that I nave met with a difficulty
through the whole Common Prayer, but what I have been enabled,
by this means, in some measure to remove.
And whilst I was upon these searches, it came into my mind, from
the extravagant prices which the Old Common Prayer Books have
borne of late, that it would not be unacceptable to the curious
reader, to note the differences between them : wherever therefore
I met with any variations, I have also been diligent to transcribe
them at large, and to give the reason of the several changes :
another improvement which I thought would be looked upon to be
so much the more useful, as it furnished me with occasions of in-
quiring into several ancient usages of the Church, and of shewing
how far we have advanced to, or gone back from, the primitive
standard, since our first Reformation.
These arc the two principal alterations which I observed: and
though these perhaps may seem but slight at first mentioning, yi-t
I can assure the reader, that from my first laying the design, I found
that, instead of what I had at first undertaken, which was only the
supervising a few sheets as they were worked off, I had got an en-
tire new work upon my hand*, and that I was to prepare for, as
well as to correct from, the press. New additions I pi-rc-i-ived were
necessary to be made almost in every page, and where the old mat-
ter was continued, it was to be often transposed, and to be worked
THE PREFACE. V
up again in different parts of the book. So that neither of my
former editions was, from the time above mentioned, of any other
use to me in compiling of this, than any of the authors that lay open
before me : except that what was scattered in different books,
which treat some of them of one thing and some of another, I ge-
nerally found ready collected in my own, which therefore for the
most part saved me the trouble of new weaving the materials which
others had supplied. Not that I took any advantage from hence to
spare myself the pains of reading over again the several authors
themselves; for I do not know that there was a single piece on the
subject, how inconsiderable soever, but what I gave a fresh review,
and with the utmost care, that not a hint should escape me, which I
judged would be any ways worth observation. And yet I dare
affirm that the whole that I borrowed from all who have writ pro-
fessedly upon the Common Prayer, does not amount to near a fourth
part of what the following sheets contain. Nor will it seem in-
credible, that every thing that is pertinent to my own design, should
be reduced into so narrow a compass as I have mentioned; when it
is considered that though the authors I made use of were numerous,
yet the matters they treat of are generally the same ; that some of
them have printed the Liturgy itself, as well as their explanations
and comments upon it ; that they are most of them but small ; and
that in the two that are voluminous (Dr. Comber and Dr. Nichols)
scarce an eighth part of either of them come within the limits I
confined myself to. The bulk of the former consists in large Para-
phrases and practical Discourses, which I wholly passed by : and if
the latter has done nothing in a practical way, yet the repetition of
his Paraphrases, where the same forms return in different offices,
together with his enlarging upon subjects that a reader would never
think to look for in a Comment upon the Common Prayer, have very
much contributed to swell his work with materials that I judged
might be spared, without any danger of its being thought a defect ;
especially since the omission of them made room for the enlarging
upon other points much more pertinent to the subject of the book;
and which indeed make the principal part of the whole, though
most of them are touched upon but lightly, if at all, in any former
direct Exposition of the Liturgy. To name all the particulars would
be more ostentatious than useful ; and therefore I shall only observe
in general, that wherever I knew any point I was to mention,
handled more particularly by authors who have made it their
principal view, 1 always had recourse to them, and took the
liberty of borrowing whatever contributed to the perfecting my
scheme.
In such cases I have generally given notice in the margin to
whom I have been beholden ; though there is one thing perhaps in
which I have been deficient, and that is, in not using sometimes the
ordinary marks of distinction, when I have taken the words as well
as the thoughts of my author : for it was always my rule when I
could not mend an expression, not to do it an injury by changing
it : and yet as I was frequently forced to transpose the order of his
sentences, and to blend and mix with them what my own thoughts
Vi THE PREFACE.
supplied, it often came to pass, that when the paragraph was finish-
ed, I questioned whether the author, from whom most of it was
taken, would acknowledge it to be his own.
And thus I have given the reader an account, as well of my
first attempts on this subject, as of the further progress I made
upon it when it came the third time to the press ; which I have
done, not so much for the sake of acquainting him with the old
editions, as of informing him more distinctly what it is he may look
for in the new ones. It will be a needless caution I suppose to
add, that I shall stand to nothing that I have said before, any
further than it agrees with the contents of the last : the particulars
indeed are but few, as far as I can remember, where my notions
are changed ; but where they are, it is but common justice to take
my sentiments from what I deliver upon maturer judgment; and
not to expect I should always vindicate an error or mistake, be-
cause I once advanced it in a juvenile performance. I should
have very ill bestowed the pains I took to review my original
papers, (which was more a great deal than it cost me at first to
collect and compile them ; and which took up as many years as it
would have done months, had they been only reprinted as they
were before,} if they did not come out with some improvements at
last. Not that I am so vain as to think, they are at last without
faults and imperfections ; I am sensible there are many ; I can
only plead that none willingly escaped me, and that wherever any
escaped unwillingly, nobody could have been more industrious to
find them. For in order to this, 1 not only, during the tedious
delay that I then created to the press, examined the sheets upon
every occasion that called the matter of them fresh to my mind;
but also importuned the assistance and corrections of such learned
friends as 1 knew were in no danger (except from too favourable
an indulgence to the author) of overlooking the slightest mistakes.
And this I take to be the proper place to explain myself in re-
lation to one passage particularly which I know has been thought
to need the greatest amendment, though I have let it stand with-
out making any. And indeed an explanation of it is so much the
more needful, as it is not only judged to be indefensible in itself,
but also to be inconsistent with what I have said in another part
of the book. The passage I mean is concerning the Absolution in
the daily Morning and Evening Service, \rhich I have asserted to
be "an actual conveyance of pardon, at the very instant of pro-
nouncing it, to all that come within the terms proposed."* And
again, that it " is more than DECLARATIVE, that it is truly EFFECTIVE ;
insuring and conveying to the proper subjects thereof the very
absolution or remission itself, "f This has been thought by some,
from whose judgment I should be very unwilling to differ or recede,
not only to carry the point higher than can be maintained, but
also to be irreconcilable with my own notions of Absolution, a>
I have described them upon the office for the Viritatton of the Sick.
wlu re they are thought to be more consistent with Scripture and
Page 115. t Page 119, 120.
THE PREFACE. Vll
antiquity. I have there endeavoured to shew that there is no
" standing authority in the Ministers of the Gospel, to pardon or
forgive sins immediately and directly in relation to God, and as to
which the censure of the Church had been in no wise concerned." *
And again, " that no absolution pronounced by the Church can
cleanse or do away our inward guilt, or remit the eternal penalties
of sin, which are declared to be due to it by the sentence of GOD,
any further than by the prayers which are appointed to accompany
it, and by the use of those ordinances to which it restores us, it
may be a means, in the end, of obtaining our pardon from God,
himself, and the forgiveness of sin as it relates to him."f These
passages, I acknowledge, as they are separated from their contexts,
and opposed to one another, seem a little inconsistent and con-
fusedly expressed : but if each of them are read in their proper
places, and with that distinction of ideas which I had framed to
myself when I writ them, I humbly presume they may be easily
reconciled, and both of them asserted with equal truth. I desire
it may be remembered that in the latter place I am speaking of
a judicial and unconditional absolution, pronounced by the Min-
ister in an indicative form, as of certain advantage to the person
that receives it. By this I have supposed the Church never intends
to cleanse or dp away our inward guilt, but only to exercise an
external authority, founded upon the power of the keys ; which
though it may be absolute, as to the inflicting and remitting the
censures of the Church, I could not understand peremptorily to
determine the state of the sinner in relation to GOD. And thus far
I have the happiness to have the concurrence of good judges on
my side ; so that it is only in what I assert on the daily absolution,
that I have the misfortune not to be accounted so clear. But,
with humble submission, I can see nothing there inconsistent with
what I have said on the other. The absolution I am speaking of
is conditional, pronounced by the Priest in a declarative form,
and limited to such as truly repent and unfeignedly believe God's holy
Gospel. This indeed I have asserted to be effective, and that it
insures and conveys to the proper subjects thereof the very absolu-
tion or remission itself: but then I desire it may be remembered
that I attribute the effect of it not to a judicial, but to a ministerial
act in the person who pronounces it: but to such an act however
as is founded upon the general tenor of the Gospel, which supposes,
if I mistake not, that GOD always accompanies the ministrations
of the Priest, if there be no impediment on the part of the people.
And therefore when the Priest, in the name of GOD, so solemnly
declares to a congregation that has been humbly confessing their
sins, and importuning the remission of them, that GOD does ac-
tually pardon all that truly repent and unfeignedly believe ; why may
not such of them as do repent and believe humbly presume that
their pardon is sealed as well as made known by such declar-
ation ?
* Page 442. t Page 443,
Viii THE PREFACE.
I am sure this notion gives no encouragement either of presump-
tion to the penitent, or of arrogance to the Priest : I have supposed
that, to receive any benefit from the form, the person must come
within the terms required : and such a one, though the form should
have no effect, is allowed notwithstanding to be pardoned and
absolved. And the Priest I have asserted to act only ministerially,
aa the instrument of Providence ; that he can neither withhold,
nor apply, the absolution as he pleases, nor so much as know upon
whom or upon how many it snail take effect ; but that he only
S renounces what God commands, whilst God himself ratifies the
eclaration, and seals the pardon which he proclaims.
It is true, indeed, it does not appear by the ancient Liturgies,
that the primitive Christians had* any such absolution to be pro-
nounced, as this is, to the congregation in general. But yet, if
they had absolutions upon any occasion, and those absolutions
were supposed to procure a reconcilement with GOD. (neither of
which, I presume, will be thought to want a proof,) I see no
reason why they may not be usefully admitted (as they are with
us) into the daily and ordinary service of the Church. For allow-
ing that the persons they were formerly used to, were such as had
incurred ecclesiastical censure; yet it is confessed that the forms
pronounced on those occasions immediately respected the con-
science of the sinner, and not the outward regimen of the Church ;
that they were instrumental to procure the forgiveness of GOD,
whilst the ecclesiastical bond was declared to be released by an
additional ceremony of the imposition of hands.* If then absolu-
tions, even in the earliest ages, were thought to be instrumental
to procure GOD'S forgiveness to such sins as had deserved ecclesi-
astical bonds ; why may they not be allowed as instrumental and
proper to procure his forgiveness to sins of daily incursion, though
they may not be gross enough, or at least enough public, to come
within the cognizance of ecclesiastical censures? If it be urged,
that the ancient absolutions were never declarative, but either
intercessional, like the prayer that follows the absolution in the
office appointed for the Visitation of the Sick, or optative, like the
form in our Office of Communion: I think it may be answered, that
the effect of the absolution does not at all depend upon the form
of it, since the promises of GOD are either way applied, and it must
be the sinner's embracing them with repentance and faith, that
must make the application of them effectual to himself.
I hope this explanation will justify my notions upon the daily
absolution, as well as reconcile them with what I have said upon
the other. I shall add nothing more in defence of them, than
that they seem fully to be countenanced by the form itself, (as
I have shewed at large upon the place,) and particularly by the
inhibition of Deacons from pronouncing it:f which to me is an
argument that our Church designed it for an effect, which it was
8e Dr. Manhall'* Penitential Discipline, page 93, &c. See also the forms of
Absolution in hU Appendix, numb. 4, 5, 6, 7. t See page 120, &c.
THE PREFACE. IX
beyond the commission of a Deacon to convey. Not that I would
draw an argument from the opinion of our Church, where that
opinion seems repugnant to Scripture or antiquity: but where it
does not appear to be inconsistent with either, I think her decision
should be allowed a due weight. Wherever I have found or sus-
pected her to differ from one or the other, the reader will observe
I have not covered or disguised it; but on the contrary perhaps
have been too hasty and forward, and too unguarded in my re-
marks. But TRUTH was what I aimed at through my whole under-
taking; which therefore I was resolved at any hazard to assert
just as it appeared to me. It is not at all indeed unlikely that in
so many points as the nature of this work has led me to consider,
some things may appear as truths to me, which others, who have
better opportunities of inquiring into them, may find to be other-
wise : and therefore I can only profess that I have not advanced
any thing but what I have believed to be true ; and that if I am
any where in an error, I shall be always open to conviction, let
the person that attempts it be adversary or friend ; since if truth
can be attained to by any means at last, I shall not value from
whom or from whence it proceeds : though I cannot but say, the
satisfaction will be the greater if it appear on the side which our
Church has espoused, notwithstanding the discovery may possibly
demand some retractations on my own part, which in such case I
shall always be ready to make, and think it a happiness to find
myself mistaken.
In the mean while, I request that where I am allowed to be right,
I may not meet with the less favour, because I have shewed my-
self fallible ; and particularly I would importune my reverend
brethren of the CLERGY, (upon whose countenance the success of
this work must depend,) that if the Rubrics especially have been
any where cleared, and with proper arguments enforced, they
would join their assistance to make my endeavours of some service
to the CHURCH. For it will be but of very little use to have illus-
trated the rule, unless they also concur to make the practice more
uniform. And indeed I would hope that a small importunity would
be sufficient to prevail with them, when they see what disgrace their
compliances have brought both upon the Liturgy and themselves ;
since not only the occasional offices are now in several places pros-
tituted to the caprice of the people, to be used where, and when,
and in what manner they please ; but even the daily and ordinary
service is more than the Clergy themselves know how to perform in
any Church but their own, before they have been informed of the
particular custom of the place.
But I would not presume to dictate to those from whom it would
much better become me to learn : and therefore I shall only ob-
serve further with regard to the citations I have had occasion to
make, that I have but very seldom set down any of them at large,
because I was willing to avoid all unnecessary means of swelling
the book. Besides, I considered, that though I should cite them
ever so distinctly, yet those who understand not the language they
X THE PREFACE.
were written in, must take my word for the meaning of them at
last: and those who are capable of reading the originals, I sup-
posed, would turn to the books themselves for any thing they
should doubt of, how careful soever I should have been in tran-
scribing them ; so that I thought it sufficient to be exact in my
references, as to the tome, and page, and marginal letter, and then
to insert a general table of the ecclesiastical writers, which should
once for all shew the editions that I have used.* The reason of
my adding the times when the writers flourished, was, that my less
learned reader might gather from thence the antiquity of the se-
veral rites and ceremonies I had occasion to treat of, by consulting
when those authors lived who are produced in defence of them.
If I have any where made use of a different edition, I have taken care to specify
it in the citation itself.
AN ALPHABETICAL INDEX
ECCLESIASTICAL WRITERS CITED IN THIS BOOK
WITH THE TIMES WHEN THEY FLOURISHED, AND THE
EDITIONS MADE USE OF.
Alcuin, A. D. 780. De Offic. Divin. Paris. 1610.
Ambrose, A. D. 374. Opera, ed. Bened. Paris. 1686.
Arnobius, A. D. 303. Adv. Gentes. Lugd. Bat. 1651.
Athanasius, A. D. 326. Opera, ed. Benedict. Paris. 1698.
Athenagoras, A. D. 177. Legatio by Dechair. Oxon. 1706.
Augustin, A. D. 396. Opera, ed. Benedict. Paris. 1679.
Basil the Great, A. D. 370. Opera. Paris. 1638.
Bernard, A. D. 1115. Opera. Paris. 1640.
Canons called Apostolical, most of them composed before A. D. 300. By
Coteler. Antwerp. 1698.
Cedrenus, A. D. 1056. Histor. Compend. Paris. 1649.
Chrysostom, A. D. 398. Opera, ed. Savil. Eton. 1612.
Clemens of Alexandria, A. D. 192. Opera. Paris. 1629.
Clemens of Rome, A. D. 65. Epistolae by Wotton. Cant. 1718.
Codex Theodosianus, A. D. 438. Lugd. 1665.
Constitutions called Apostolical, about A. D. 450. By Coteler. Antwerp. 1698.
Cyprian, A. D. 248. Opera by Fell. Oxon. 1682.
Cyril of Jerusalem, A. D. 350. Opera by Mills. Oxon. 1703.
Dionysius of Alexandria, A. D. 254. Epist. adv. Paul. Sam. Paris. 1610.
Dionysius, falsely called the Areopagite, A. D. 362. Opera. Paris. 1615.
Durandus Mimatensis, A. D. 1286. Rationale. Lugd. 1612.
Durantus. De Rit. Eccles. Cath. Rom. 1591.
Epiphanius, A. D. 368. Opera. Paris. 1622.
Euagrius Scholasticus, A. D. 594. Eccles. Histor. Paris. 1673.
Eusebius, A. D. 315. Opera. Paris. 1659.
Gennadius Massiliens, A. D. 495. De Eccles. Dogmat. Hamb. 1614.
Gratian, A. D. 1131. Opera. Paris. 1601.
Gregory the Great, A. D. 590. Opera. Paris. 1675.
Gregory Nazianzen, A. D. 370. Opera. Paris. 1630.
Gregory Nyssen, A. D. 370. Opera. Paris. 1615.
Hierom or Jerome, A. D. 378. Opera, edit. Ben. Paris. 1704.
Ignatius, A. D. 101. Opera by Smith. Oxon. 1709.
Irenaeus, A. D. 167. Adv. Ha;res. by Grabe. Oxon. 1702.
Isidore Hispalensis, A. D. 595. Opera. Paris. 1601.
Isidore Pcleusiota, A. D. 412. Opera. Paris. 1638.
Justin Martyr, A. D. 140. Apol. 1. by Grabe. Oxon. 1700. Opera. Paris. 1615.
Lactantius, A. D. 303. Opera by Spark. Oxon. 1684.
Micrologus, A. D. 1080. De Eccles. Observ. Paris. 1610.
XII
INDEX OF ECCLESIASTICAL WRITERS.
Minucius Felix, A. D. 220. Octavius by Davis. Cant. 1712.
Nicephorus Calistus, A. D. 1333. Eccles. Histor. Paris. 1630.
Optatus Milevitanus, A. D. 368. Opera. Paris. 1679.
Origcn, A. D. 230. Opera Latino. Paris. 1604.
Paulinus, A. D. 420. Lib. contr. Felic. Paris. 1610.
Paulus Diaconus, A. D. 757. Opera. Paris. 1611.
Polycarp, A. D. 108. Ep. ad Phil, by Smith. Oxon. 1709.
Pontius Diaconus, A. D. 251. Vita S. Cypr. before St. Cyprian's Works.
Oxon. 1682.
Proclus, A. D. 434. DC Trad. Div. Lit. Paris. 1560.
Ruffinus, A. D. 390. In Symbolum at the end of St Cyprian's Works.
Socrates, A. D. 439. Eccles. Histor. Paris. 1668.
Sozomen, A. D. 440. Eccles. Histor. Paris. 1668.
Synesius, A. D. 410. Opera. Paris. 1631.
Tatian, A. D. 172. Orat. nd Gr. by Worth. Oxon. 1700.
Tertullian, A. D. 192. Opera by Rigaltius. Paris. 1675.
Theodoret, A. D. 423. Opera. Paris. 1642.
Theodosius Junior. See Codex Theodosianus.
Theophilus Antiochen, A. D. 168. Ad Autolyc. by Fell. Oxon. 1684.
Theophylact, A. D. 1077. Commentarii. Paris. 1631.
COUNCILS.
By Labtee and Cossart, in 15 tomes. Paris. 1671.
Agathense, A. D. 506.
Aureliancnse 1, A. D. 511.
Bracharcnsc 1, A. D. 5G3.
Calchutense, A. D. 787.
Carthagincnse 3, A. D. 252.
Carthaginensc 4, A. D. 253.
Constantinop. 2, Gen. A. D. 381.
Constant. 6, Gen. Sec Quini-textum.
Eliberitanum, A. D. 305.
Gerundense 1, A. D. 517.
Laodicenum, A. D. 367.
Milevitan. 1, A. D. 402.
Neocsesariense, A. D. 315.
Nicenum 1, Gen. A. D. 325.
Orleance 1. See Aurelianense 1.
Placentinum, A. D. 1095.
Quini-sextum in Trullo, A. D. 692.
Rhemense 2, A. D. 813.
Sardicense, A. D. 347.
Toletanum 3, A. D. 589.
Triburiensc, A. D. 895.
Trullan. See Quini-sextum.
Vasensel, A. D. 442.
Vasensc 2, A. D. 529.
A
RATIONAL ILLUSTRATION
OP THE
BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.
AN INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE,
SHEWING THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OF A NATIONAL
PEECOMPOSED LITUKGY.
MOST of the objections urged by the Dissenters against the
Church of England, to justify their separation from it, being
levelled against its form and manner of divine worship, pre-
scribed in the Book of Common Prayer, &c., are, in the
following Discourse, answered, as fully as its brevity would
permit. So that, though the principal design of this book be
to instruct such as are friends to our Church and Liturgy ;
yet it is not impossible but that, by the blessing of God, it
may in some measure contribute to the undeceiving some that
are enemies to both, (such I mean as are disaffected to the
former, upon no other account, than a prejudice to the
latter ;) especially could we, by first convincing them of the
Lawfulness and Necessity of National precomposed LI-
TURGIES in general, prevail with them to take an impartial
view of what is here ottered in behalf of our own. To this
end therefore, and to make the following sheets of as general
use as I can, I shall, by way of INTRODUCTION, endeavour to
prove these three things ; viz.
I. FIRST, That the ancient Jews, our Saviour, his Apostles,
and the primitive Christians, never joined (as far as we can
prove) in any prayers, but precomposed set forms only.
II. SECONDLY, That those precomposed set forms, in which
they joined, were such as the respective congregations were
accustomed to, and thoroughly acquainted with.
III. THIRDLY, That their practice warrants the imposition
of a National precomposed Liturgy.
2 THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OP [INTRODUCTION.
I. FIRST, I am to prove that the ancient Jews, our Sa-
viour, his Apostles, and the primitive Christians, never joined
(as far as we can prove) in any prayers, but precomposed set
forms only. And this I shall do by shewing,
1. First, That they did join in precomposed set forms of
prayer.
2. Secondly, That (as far as we can conjecture) they never
joined in any other.
1. First, I shall shew that the ancient Jews, our Saviour,
his Apostles, and the primitive Christians, did join in pre-
composed set forms of prayer.
1st, To begin with the Jews, we find that the first piece of
solemn worship recorded in Scripture is a hymn of praise,
composed by Moses upon the deliverance of the children of
Israel from the Egyptians, which was sung by all the con-
gregation alternately ; by Moses and the men first, and after-
wards by Miriam and the women : l which could not have
been done unless it had been a precomposed set form. Again,
in the expiation of an uncertain murder, the elders of the city
which is next to the slain are expressly commanded to say,
and consequently to join in saying, a form of prayer, pre-
composed by God himself. 2 And in other places of Scripture 3
we meet with several other forms of prayer, precomposed by
God, and prescribed by Moses ; which though they were not
to be joined in by the whole congregation, are yet sufficient
precedents for the use of precomposed set forms. But further,
the Scriptures assure us, that David appointe'd the Levites to
stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and
likewise at even, 4 which rule was observed in the temple
afterwards built by Solomon, and restored at the building of
the second temple after the captivity. 8 Lastly, the whole
book of Psalms were forms of prayer and praise, indited by
the Holy Ghost, for the joint use of the congregation ; as
appears as well from the titles of several of the Psalms, 6 as
from other places of Scripture.
Innumerable proofs might be brought, both ancient and
modern, that the Jews did always worship God by precom-
posed set forms : but the world is fully satisfied of this truth,
from the concurrent testimonies of Josephus, Philo, Paul
1 Exod. xv. 1, 20, 21. Deut. xxl. 7/8. Numb. vi. 22, &c. chap. x. 35, 36.
Deut. xxvi. 3, 5, &c. ver. 13, rc. 1 Chron. xxiii. 30. Neh. xii. 44, 45, 46.
See Pul. xlii., xliv., Ac. Pial. lv., T., vl., Sic. Psal. xcii. ' 1 Chron. xvi. 7. 2
Chron. xxix. 30. Ezra ill. 10, II.
INTRODUCTION.] A NATIONAL PRECOMPOSED LITURGY. 3
Fagius, Scaliger, Buxtorf, and Selden in Eutychium. The
reader may consult two learned men of our own, viz. Dr.
Hammond (who both proves that the Jews used set forms,
and that their prayers and praises, &c. were in the same order
as our Common Prayer") and Dr. Lightfoot, who not only
asserts they worshipped God by stated forms, but also sets
down both the order and method of their hymns and suppli-
cations. 9 So that there is no more reason to doubt of their
having and using a precomposed settled Liturgy, than of our
own having and using the Book of Common Prayer, &c., and
of its consisting of precomposed set forms. We shall therefore
proceed in the next place to inquire into the practice of our
Saviour, his Apostles, and the primitive Christians.
And, 1st, for our Saviour ; there is not the least doubt to
be made, but that he continued always in communion with
the Jewish Church, and was zealous and exemplary in their
public devotions ; and consequently took all opportunities of
joining in those precomposed set forms of prayer, which
were daily used in the Jewish congregations, as the learned
Dr. Lightfoot has largely proved. 10 And we may be sure,
that had not our Saviour very constantly attended their
public worship, and joined in the devotions of their congre-
gations, the scribe and Pharisees, his bitter and implacable
enemies, and great zealots for the temple-service, would
doubtless have cast it in his teeth, and reproached him as an
ungodly wretch, that despised prayer, &c. But nothing of
this nature do we find in the whole New Testament ; and
therefore, had we no other grounds than these to go upon, we
might safely conclude, that our blessed Saviour was a con-
stant attendant on the public service of the Jews, and conse-
quently that he joined in precomposed set forms of prayer.
And, 2ndly, as to the Apostles and our Lord's other dis-
ciples, their practice was doubtless the same till our Saviour's
ascension ; after which (besides that they did probably still
join as before in the Jewish worship, 11 which consisted of pre-
composed set forms) it is plain that they used precomposed
set forms in their Christian assemblies, during the remainder
bf their lives.
As the primitive Christians also did in the following ages :
as will appear,
8 View of the Directory, p. 136, and his Oxford Papers, p. 260, vol. i. 9 Dr. Light-
foot's Works, vol. i. p. 922, 942, 946. w Ibid. vol. U. part ii. p. 1036, &c. u See Acts
iii. 1. xiii. 15. xvii. 2.
B 2
4 THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OF [IKTBODUCTIOK.
1 . From their joining in the use of the Lord's prayer.
2. From their joining in the use of Psalms.
3. From their joining in the use of divers precomposed set
forms of prayer, besides the Lord's prayer and Psalms.
1. They joined in the use of the Lord's prayer. And this
is sufficiently evident from our Saviour's having commanded
them so to do : for whatever dispute may be made about the
word ourwc, in St. Matthew vi. 9, which is translated not ex-
actly, but paraphrastically, after this manner, but ought
with greater accuracy to be rendered so, or thus ; 12 yet if we
should grant that our Lord in this place only proposed this
prayer as a directory and pattern to make our other prayers
by, we should still find afterwards, upon another occasion,
viz. when his disciples requested him to teach them to pray,
as John had also taught his disciples, he prescribed the use
of these very words ; expressly bidding them, IVTien ye pray,
say, Our Father. 13 I suppose nobody hath so mean an
opinion, either of St. John's or our Saviour's disciples, as to
think they were ignorant how to pray : therefore it is plain
they could mean nothing else by their request, but that Christ
would give them this peculiar form, as a badge of their be-
longing to him ; according to the custom of the Jewish
Doctors, who always taught their disciples- a peculiar form to
add to their own ; u so that either our Saviour instructed
them to use this very form of words, or else he did not answer
the design of their requests.
But it is objected, that " if our Lord had intended this
prayer should be used as a set form, he would not have added
the Doxology, when he delivered it at one time, as it is re-
corded in St. Matthew, and omit it, when he delivered it
upon another occasion, as in St. Luke."
But to this we answer, That learned men are very much
divided in their opinions, concerning the Doxology in St.
Matthew ; some thinking it is, and others that it is not, a part
of the original text. Whether it be or be not, we need not
here dispute, but argue with our adversaries upon either sup-
position.
For, 1st, if they think it is not a part of the original text,
" In which signification it U always used in the Septuagint Version of the Bible,
as appears by comparing Numb. vi. 23. xxiii. 5. Isa. viii. 11. xxviii. 16. xxx. 15.
xiXTii. 33. and some other places, with Numb, xxiii. 16. Isaiah zxx. 12. xxxvii. 21.
liii. 3. For in the former texts, ou-n Xf>' 6 KKOKK, that lailk the Lard, bears the
same signification as T& \+j K*p". M' ai'<A tht Lard, in the latter. w Luke
zi. 1, 2, He. " Dr. Lightfoot, vol. il. p. 158.
INTRODUCTION.] A NATIONAL PRECOMPOSED LITURGY. 5
then their objection is groundless : for there is nothing found
in one Evangelist, but what is also found in the other ; and
the form, as to the sense of it, is exactly the same in both :
for though one or two expressions may differ, yet the Syriac
words, in which we know our Lord delivered it, are equally
capable of both translations.
But, 2ndly, if they think the Doxology is a part of the
original text ; we answer, The addition of it is as good an
argument against the Lord's prayer being a directory for the
matter of prayer, as it can be against its being an established
set form of prayer. For we may say, in the language of our
adversaries, if Christ had intended his prayer for a directory
for the matter of prayer, he would not have given such differ-
ent directions, ordering us to add a Doxology to the end of
our prayers at one time, and omitting that order at another.
If therefore the addition of the Doxology be (as they must
grant upon their own principles) no objection against its being
a directory for the matter of prayer ; then certainly it is no ob-
jection against its being an established set form. For the
difference of our prayers will be every whit as great in follow-
ing this pattern, by sometimes omitting and sometimes adding
a Doxology at the end of our prayers, as it can possibly be, by
using the Lord's prayer, sometimes with, and at other times
without, the Doxology. The utmost therefore that can be
concluded from the Doxology's being a part of the original
text in St. Matthew, is this : That our Lord, though he com-
manded the use of the Lord's prayer, does not insist upon the
use of the Doxology, but leaves it indifferent ; or at most,
orders it to be sometimes used, and sometimes omitted, as our
established Church practises. But the other essential parts of
the prayer are to be used notwithstanding ; it being very ab-
surd to omit the use of the whole, because the latter part of
it is not enjoined to be used constantly with the rest.
But it is further objected, 1st, That, "supposing our Sa-
viour did prescribe it as a form ; yet it was only for a time,
till they should be more fully instructed, and enabled to pray
by the assistance of the Holy Ghost." And to urge this with
the greater force, they tell us, 2ndly, " That before Christ's
ascension, the disciples had asked nothing in his name, 15
whereas they were taught, that after his ascension they should
offer up all their prayers in his name. 16 Now this prayer, say
15 John xvi. 24. 16 John xiv. 13. and chap. xvi. 23.
6 THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OF [INTRODUCTION.
they, having nothing of his name in it, could not be designed
to be used after his ascension." Accordingly they tell us,
3rdly, " That though we read in the Acts of the Apostles of
several prayers made by the Church, yet we find not any in-
timation, that they ever used this form." 17
Whatever resemblances of truth these objections may seem
to carry with them at first sight, if we look narrowly into
them, we shall find them to be grounded upon principles as
dangerous as false.
For, 1st, If, because our Saviour hath not in express words
commanded this form of prayer to be used for ever, we con-
clude that it was only prescribed for a time ; we must neces-
sarily allow, that whatever Christ hath instituted without
limitation of time does not always oblige ; and, consequently,
we may declare Christ's institutions to be null without his au-
thority ; and at that rate cry down baptism and the Lord's
supper for temporary prescriptions, as well as the Lord's
prayer.
In answer to the second objection, we may observe, that to
pray in Christ's name, is to pray in his mediation ; depend-
ing upon his merits and intercession for the acceptance of our
prayers ; and therefore prayers may be offered up in Christ's
name, though we do not name him. And as for the Lord's
prayer, it is so 'framed, that it is impossible to offer it up, un-
less it be in the name of Christ : for we have no right or title
to call God our Father, unless it be through the merits and
mediation of Jesus Christ ; who hath made us heirs of God,
and Joint-heirs with himself. And therefore Christ's not
inserting his own name in his prayer, does by no means prove,
that he did not design it for a standing form.
And, 3rdly, as to the objection of the Scriptures not once
intimating the use of this prayer, in those places where it
speaks of others ; we might answer, that we may as well con-
clude from the silence of the Scripture, that the Apostles did
not baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, as that they did not use this prayer ; since they had
as strict a command to do the one as the other. But besides,
in all those places, except two, 18 there is nothing else men-
tioned, but that they prayed ; no mention at all of the words
of their prayers ; and therefore there is no reason why we
11 Chmp. I. 24. 11. 42. l. 24. vi. 6. vlii. 15. xtl. 1J. xiiL 3. xx. 36. Acts 1. 24.
and chap. iv. 24.
INTRODUCTION.] A NATIONAL PRECOMPOSED LITURGY. 7
should expect a particular intimation of the Lord's prayer.
And as for those prayers mentioned in the aforesaid places, I
do not see how they can prove from thence, that they were
offered up in the name of Christ.
But, lastly, it is objected, that " the words of this prayer are
improper to be used now ; because therein we pray that God's
kingdom may come now, which came many ages since, viz. at
our Saviour's ascension into heaven."
But in answer to this, I think it sufficient to observe, that
though the foundations of God's kingdom were laid then, yet
it is not yet completed. For since we know that all the world
must be converted to Christianity, and the Jews, Turks, and
Infidels still make up the far greater part of it, we have as
much reason upon this account to pray for the coming of
God's kingdom now as ever. And if we consider those parts
of the world which have already embraced Christianity, I can-
not think it improper to pray, that they may sincerely prac-
tise what they believe ; which conduces much more to the
advancement of God's kingdom, than a bare profession does
without such practice.
Since therefore, from what has been said, it appears that our
Saviour prescribed the Lord's prayer as a standing form, and
commanded his Apostles and other disciples to use it as such ;
it is not to be suspected but that they observed this command ;
especially since the accounts which we have from antiquity do
(though the Scriptures be silent in the matter) fully prove it
to have been their constant custom ; as appears by a numer-
ous cloud of witnesses, who conspire in attesting this truth :
of which I shall only instance in a few.
And first, Tertullian was, without all doubt, of opinion, that
Christ delivered the Lord's prayer, not as a directory only, but
as a precomposed set form, to be used by all Christians. For
he says, " 19 The Son taught us to pray, Our Father, which art
in heaven ; " i. e. he taught us to use the Lord's prayer. And
speaking of the same prayer, he says, " 20 0ur Lord gave his
new disciples of the New Testament a new form of prayer."
He calls it, " 20 The prayer appointed by Christ," and " 2l The
prayer appointed by Law," (for so the word legitima must be
rendered,) and " the ordinary " (i. e. the usual and customary)
" prayer which is to be said before our other prayers ; and
upon which, as a foundation, our other prayers are to be
19 Adv. Prax. c. 23, p. 514, A. De Orat. c. i. p. 129, A. 2I Ibid. c. ix.p. 133, B.
8 THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OF [INTBODUCTIOIC.
built : " and tells us, that " w the use of it was ordained by our
Saviour."
Next, St. Cyprian '"tells us, that " Christ himself gave us a
form of prayer, and commanded us to use it ; because, when
we speak to the Father in the Son's words, we shall be more
easily heard;" and that " ** there is no prayer more spiritual
or true than the Lord's prayer." And therefore he most
earnestly M exhorts men to the use of it as often as they pray.
Again, St. Cyril of Jerusalem calls it, " M the prayer which
Christ gave his disciples, and n which God hath taught us."
About the same time Optatus takes it for granted that it is
commanded. 28
After him, St. Chrysostom calls it, " M the prayer enjoined
by laws, and brought in by Christ."
In the same century St. Austin tells us, " ^that our Saviour
gave it to the Apostles, to the intent that they should use it :
that he taught it his disciples himself, and by them he taught
it us ; that he dictated it to us, as a lawyer would put words
in his client's mouth ; that it is necessary for all, i. e. such as
all were bound to use ; and that we cannot be God's children,
unless we use it."
Lastly, St. Gregory Nyssen says, " 31 that Christ shewed his
disciples how they should pray, by the words of the Lord's
prayer." And Theodoret assures us, that " 32 the Lord's
prayer is a form of prayer, and that Christ has commanded us
to use it." But testimonies of this kind are numberless.
If therefore the judgment of the ancient Fathers may be re-
lied on, who knew the practice of the Apostles much better
than we can pretend to do ; we may dare to affirm, that the
Apostles did certainly use the Lord's prayer : and if it be
granted that they used it, we may reasonably suppose that
they Joined in the use of it. For, besides that it is very im-
probable that a Christian assembly should, in their public de-
votions, omit that prayer which was the badge of their dis-
cipleship ; the very petitions of the prayer, running all along
in the plural number, do evidently shew, that it was primarily
designed for the joint use of a congregation.
That the Christians of the first centuries used it in their
** De Oral. c. Ix. p. 133, A. M De Oral. Domin. p. 139. ' Ibid. * Ibid. p. 139,
140. Catech. Mjritag. 5, J. 8, p. 23H, lln. 12, &c. Ibid. . 15, p. 300, lin. 24.
De Schtam. Donatiit. 1. 4, p. 88. Horn. II. In 2 Cor. torn. ill. p. 553. lin. 21. 22.
Ep. 157, torn. ii. col. 543, B. et Serm. 58, torn. v. col. 337, D. E. De Oral. Dorain.
Oral. 1, torn. i. p. 712, B. Hasrct. Fabul. lib. 5, cap. 28, torn. IT. p. 316, B.
INTRODUCTION.] A NATIONAL PRECOMPOSED LITURGY. 9
assemblies, is evident from its being always used in the cele-
bration of the Lord's supper, 33 which for some ages was per-
formed every day. 34 And St. Austin tells us in express words,
that ' 435 it was said at God's altar every day." So that, with-
out enlarging any more, I shall look upon it as sufficiently
proved, that the Apostles and primitive Christians did join in
the use of the Lord's prayer ; which is one plain argument
that they joined in the use of precomposed set forms of prayer.
Another argument I shall make use of to prove it, is,
2. Their joining in the use of Psalms. For we are told,
that Paul 36 and Silas, when they were in prison, prayed and
sang praises to God. And this we must suppose they did
audibly, because the prisoners heard them, and consequently
they would have disturbed each other, had they not united in
the same prayers and praises.
Again, St. Paul blames the Corinthians, because, when they
came together, every one had a psalm, had a doctrine &c.
Where we must not suppose that he forbad the use of psalms
in public worship, any more than he did the use of doctrines,
&c. ; but that he is displeased with them for not having the psalm
all together, i. e. for not joining in it; that so the whole con-
gregation might attend one and the same part of divine service
at the same time. From whence we may conclude, that the
use of psalms was a customary thing, and that the Apostle
approved of it ; only ordering them iojoin in the use of them,
which we may reasonably suppose they did for the future ;
since we find by the Apostle's second Epistle to them, that
they reformed their abuses.
Thus also in his Epistle to the Ephesians, 38 the Apostle ex-
horts them to speak to themselves with psalms, and hymns,
and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in their
hearts to the Lord. And he bids the Colossians 39 teach and
admonish one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual
songs, singing nrith grace in their hearts to the Lord. From
all which texts of Scripture, and several others that might be al-
leged, we must necessarily conclude, that joint psalmody was
instituted by the Apostles, as a constant part of divine worship.
And that the primitive Christians continued it, is a thing so
notorious, that it seems wholly needless to cite any testimonies
10 THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OF [IST*ODUCTIOS.
to prove it : I shall therefore only point to such places at the
bottom of the page, 40 as will sufficiently satisfy any, that will
think it worth their while to consult them.
The practice therefore of the Apostles and primitive Chris-
tians, in joining in the use of psalms, is another intimation,
that they joined in the use of precomposed set forms of pray-
er. For though all psalms be not prayers, because some of
them are not spoken to God ; yet it is certain a great part of
them are, because they are immediately directed to him ; as is
evident, as well from the psalms of David, as from several
Christian hymns : 41 and, consequently, the Apostles and pri-
mitive Christians, by jointly singing such psalms in their con-
gregations, did join in the use of precomposed set forms of
prayer. It only remains then that I prove,
3. That they joined in the use of divers precomposed set
forms of prayer, besides the Lord's prayer and psalms.
And 1st, as to the Apostles, we are told that Peter and John,
after they had been threatened, and commanded not to preach
the Gospel, rvent to their own company, and reported all
that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And
lohen they heard that, they lift up tJteir voice to God with
one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, 42 &c.
Now in this place we are told, that the whole company lift
up their voice mith one accord, and said, (i. e. they joined all
together with audible voices in using these words,) Lord, thou
art God, &c. ; which they could not possibly have done, unless
the prayer they used was a precomposed set form. For what-
ever may be said in favour of joining mentally, with a prayer
conceived extempore ; I suppose nobody will contend, that it
is possible for a considerable congregation to join vocally or
aloud, as the Apostles and their company are here said to have
done, in a prayer so conceived.
But some may object, that " though it is affirmed, that the
whole company lift up their voice, and said the prayer here
mentioned ; yet it is possible that one only might do so in
the name of all the rest, who joined mentally with him, though
not in an audible manner." To this we answer, That the
Plin. F.pist. 1. 10, Ep. 97, p. 284. Oxon. 1703. Euseb. Eccl. Hint. lib. 5, c. 28, p. 196,
A. Juit. Mart. KpUt. ad Zen. et Seren. p. 509, A. Cyril. Micros. Catcch. IS. . 3, p.
180, lin. 9, fcc. Cmtecb. Mystag. 5, . 17, p. 300, lin. 34, &c. Socr. Hint. Eccl. 1. 2, c.
11. p. 89, A. Athanas. ad Marcellin. EpUt. f. 27, t. i. par. 2, p. 999, B. All these,
and many other*, mention the Church'* tiling psalms in the public assemblies, as a
practice that had universally obtained from the times of the Apostles. ' As St. Am-
brose's Te Deura, and the like. Act* iv. 23, 24.
INTRODUCTION.] A NATIONAL PRECOMPOSED LITURGY. 1 1
Scripture never attributes that to a whole congregation or
multitude, which is literally true of a single person only, ex-
cept in such cases, where the thing related requires the con-
sent of the whole multitude, but could not conveniently be
performed or done by every one of them in their own persons.
But I suppose no one will pretend, either that it was impossi-
ble for the Apostles and their company to lift up their voice,
and say the prayers recited in the context, or that God could
not hear or understand them when speaking all together.
But that which puts the matter out of all doubt, is the fol-
lowing consideration, viz. that the company is not barely said
to have lift up their voice, but to have lift it up [6/io0i>/zai>ov]
with one accord, or all together ; which adverb is so placed,
that it cannot be joined to any other verb than ypav- and no-
thing is more evident, than that this adverb implies and de-
notes a conjunction of persons ; and consequently, since it is
here applied to all the company, and particularly to that action
of theirs, viz. their lifting up their voice ; it is manifest
that they did all of them lift up their respective voices, and
that they could not be said to have lift up their voices in that
sense which this objection supposes, viz. by appointing one
person to lift up his single voice for them all. For if they did
so, then the historian's words must signify, that the whole
congregation lift up their voice together, by appointing one
man to lift up his particular voice in conjunction with himself
alone ; which is such nonsense, as cannot, without blasphemy,
be imputed to an inspired writer. So that it is undeniably
plain, that the persons here said to have been present, uttered
their prayer all together, and spake all at the same time ; and
consequently, that the prayer must be a precomposed set form.
If any person should be so extravagant as to imagine, that
" the whole congregation was inspired at that very instant with
the same words ; and, consequently, that they might all of
them break forth at once, and join vocally in the same prayer,
though it were not precomposed ;" we need only reply, that
this assertion is utterly groundless, having neither any show of
reason, nor so much as one example in all history to warrant it.
But it may perhaps be objected, that " the Apostles and their
company could have no notice of this unforeseen accident ;
and therefore could not be prepared with such a precomposed
set form of thanksgiving ; and that it was uttered so soon
after the relation of what had befallen the Apostles, that if it
12 THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OF [INTRODUCTJOV.
had been composed upon that occasion, it seems impossible
that copies of it should have been delivered out for the com-
pany to be so far acquainted with it, as immediately to join
vocally in it." To which we answer, (1.) That since we have
evidently proved, from their joining vocally in it, that it must
have been a precomposed set form ; it lies upon our adversa-
ries to answer our argument, more than it does upon us to
account for this difficulty ; for a difficulty, though it could not
be easily accounted for, is by no means sufficient to confront
and overthrow a clear demonstration. But, (2.) this difficulty
is not so great as it may at first appear : for there is nothing
in the whole prayer, but what might properly be used every
day by a Christian congregation, so long as the powers of the
world were opposing and threatening such as preached the
Gospel, and the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost were con-
tinued in the Church : so that those who think this prayer to
have been conceived and used on that emergency only, and
never either before or after, do, in reality, beg the question,
and take that for granted which they cannot prove. For the
Scripture says nothing like it, nor do the circumstances require
it ; and therefore it is very probable that it was a standing
form, well known in the Church, and frequently used, as oc-
casion offered : and, consequently, upon this occasion, (on
which it is manifest it was highly seasonable and proper,) they
immediately brake forth, and vocally uttered, and jointly said
it, and perhaps added it to their other daily devotions, which,
we may very well suppose, they used at the same time, though
the historian takes no notice of it.
There remains still another objection, which may possibly
be made, viz. that " the holy Scriptures, when they relate what
was spoken, especially by a multitude, do not always give us
the very words that were spoken, but only the sense of them ;
and accordingly in this instance, perhaps the congregation did
not jointly offer up that very prayer, but when they had heard
what the Apostles told them, they might all break out at one
and the same time into vocal prayer, and every man utter
words much to the same sense, though they might not join in
one and the same form." But to remove this objection, we
need only reflect upon the intolerable confusion such a prac-
tice must of necessity cause ; for that they all prayed vocally,
has been evidently proved : if therefore they did not join in
the same prayer, but offerup every man different words, though
INTRODUCTION.] A NATIONAL PRECOMPOSED LITURGY. 13
to the same sense : it must necessarily follow, that the whole
company would, instead of uniting in their devotions, inter-
rupt and distract each other's prayers.
How much more reasonable then is it to believe, that the
Apostles and their company, who then prayed all together
vocally, upon so solemn an occasion, did really use the same
prayer, and join in the same words ! And if so, then the ar-
gument already offered is a demonstration that they joined in
a precomposed set form of prayer, besides the Lord's prayer
and psalms.
And that the primitive Christians did very early use pre-
composed set forms in their public worship, is evident from
the names given to their public prayers ; for they are called
the common prayers?* constituted prayers,^ and solemn
prayers.^ But that which puts the matter out of all doubt,
are the Liturgies ascribed to St. Peter, St. Mark, and St.
James ; which, though corrupted by later ages, are doubtless
of great antiquity. For besides many things which have a
strong relish of that age, that of St. James was of great
authority in the Church of Jerusalem in St. Cyril's time,
who has a comment upon it still extant, 46 which St. Jerome
says was writ in his younger years : 47 and it is not probable
that St. Cyril would have taken the pains to explain it, unless
it had been of general use in the Church ; which we cannot
suppose it could have obtained in less than seventy or eighty
years.. Now St. Cyril was chosen Bishop of Jerusalem either
in the year 349 or 351 ; to which office, it is very well known,
seldom any were promoted before they were pretty well in
years. If therefore he writ his comment upon this Liturgy
in his younger years, we cannot possibly date it later than the
year 340 ; and then, allowing the Liturgy to have obtained in
the Church about eighty years, it necessarily follows that it
must have been composed in the year 260, which was not
above 160 years after the apostolical age. It is declared by
Proclus 48 and the sixth general Council, 49 to be of St. James's
own composing. And that there are forms of worship in it
as ancient as the Apostles, seems highly probable ; for all the
form, Sursum corda, is there, and in St. Cyril's comment
43 Kon. i i X a<. Just. Mart. Apol. 1, c. 85, p. 124, lin. 28. " Ei X ai irpoffTaxSe.Va,.
Origen. cont. Cels. 1. 6, p. 312. Aug. Vindel. 1605. 45 Preces solennes. Cypr. De
Laps. p. 132. > Catech. Myst. 5, a p. 295 ad p. 301. 47 Catalog. Scriptor. Eccles.
torn. i. p. 317, num. 123. 8 De Trad. Div. Liturg. ap. Bonam. de Rebus Liturgicis,
1. 1, c. 9, p. 157. Can. 32. ConcU. torn. vi. col. 1158, B.
14 THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OF [IICTEODUCTIOK.
The same is in the Liturgies of Rome and Alexandria, and in
the Constitutions of Clemens, 50 which all agree are of great
antiquity, though not so early as they pretend ; and St.
Cyprian, who was living within an hundred years after the
Apostles, makes mention of it as a form then used and re-
ceived,* 1 which Nicephorus does also of the Trisagium in
particular. 52 We do not deny but that these Liturgies may
have been interpolated in after-times : but that no more over-
throws the antiquity of the groundwork of them, than the
large additions to a building prove there was no house before.
It is an easy matter to say, that such Liturgies could not be
St. James's or St. Mark's, because of such errors or mistakes,
and interpolations of things and phrases of later times. But
what then ? Is this an argument that there were no ancient
Liturgies in the churches of Jerusalem or Alexandria ; when
so long since as in Origen's time, 53 we find an entire collect
produced by him out of the Alexandrian Liturgy ? And the
like may be shewed as to other churches, which by degrees
came to have their Liturgies much enlarged by the devout
additions of some extraordinary men, who had the care of the
several churches afterwards : such as were St. Basil, St.
Chrysostom, and others. So that, notwithstanding their in-
terpolations, the Liturgies themselves are a plain demonstra-
tion of the use of divers precomposed set forms of prayer,
besides the Lord's prayer and psalms, even in the first and
second centuries.
And that in Constantine's time the Church used such pre-
composed set forms, is evident from Eusebius, who tells us of
Constantine's M composing a prayer for the use of his soldiers ;
and in the next chapter 44 gives us the words of the prayer;
which makes it undeniably plain, that it was a set form of
words. If it be said, that " Constantine's composing a form
is a plain evidence, that at that time there w.ere no public
forms in the Church ; " we answer, that this form was only
for his heathen soldiers ; for the story tells us, 46 that he gave
his Christian soldiers liberty to go to church. And therefore
all that can be gathered from hence is, that the Christian
Church had no form of prayers for heathen soldiers ; which is
no great wonder, since if they had, it is very unlikely that
* L. 8, c. 12, torn. . p. MS, E. ' De Orat. Domin. p. 15S. M Hint. Eccles. L 18.
c. 53, torn. i!. p. 883, B. M Oriff. in Jerem. Horn. XIV. vol. I. p. 141, edit. Huet.
Hothonuff. 1068. * De TiU Con.tant. 1. 4, c. 19, p. 53i, B. Ibid. c. 20, p. 535, C.
* Ibid. c. 18, p. 534, D.
INTRODUCTION.] A NATIONAL PRECOMPOSED LITURGY. 15
they would have used it. But that the Church had forms of
prayer is evident, because the same author calls the prayers
which Constantine used in his court ('Ec/cX^me Qeov rpoirov,
according to the manner of the Church 57 of God) ev-^ag ivQia-
HOVQ, authorized prayers ; which is the same title he gave to
that form which he made for his heathen soldiers. 58 And
therefore if by the authorized prayers, which he prescribed to
the soldiers, he meant a form of prayer, as it is manifest he
did, then by the authorized prayers which he used in his
court, after the manner of the Church of God, he must mean
a form of prayers also. And since he had a form of prayers
in his court, after the manner of the Church, the Church must
necessarily have a form of prayers too.
It is plain then, that the three first centuries joined in the
use of divers precomposed set forms of prayer, besides the
Lord's prayer and psalms : after which, (besides the Liturgies
of St. Basil, St. Chrysostom, and St. Ambrose,) we have also
undeniable testimonies of the same. 59 Gregory Nazianzen says,
that " St. Basil composed orders and forms of prayer." 60 And
St. Basil himself, reciting the manner of the public service
that was used in the monastical oratories of his institution,
says, 61 that " nothing was therein done but what was consonant
and agreeable to all the churches of God." The Council of
Laodicea expressly provides, 62 " that the same Liturgy or form
of prayer should be always used, both at the ninth hour, and
in the evening." And this canon is taken into the Collection
of the Canons of the Catholic Church ; which Collection was
established in the fourth general Council of Chalcedon, in the
year 451 ; 63 by which establishment the whole Christian Church
was obliged to the use of Liturgies, so far as the authority of
a general Council extends.
It were very easy to add many other proofs of the same
kind, within the compass of time to which those I have al-
ready produced do belong; 64 but the brevity of my design only
allows me to mention such as are so obviously plain as to admit
of no objections. To descend into the following ages, is not
worth my while ; for the greatest enemies to precomposed set
forms of prayer do acknowledge, that in the fourth and fifth
centuries, and ever after, till the times of the Reformation,
5r De vita Constant. 1. 4, c. 17, p. 534, A. M Ibid. c. 19, p. 535, B. 59 See St. Chry-
sost. Homil. XVIII. in Ep. 2, ad Corinth, torn. iii. p. 647. Concil. Carthag. 3, can. 23,
torn. ii. col. 1170. De Concil. Milev. 2, can. 12, torn. ii. col. 1540, E. w Oral. 20, in
Basil. ei Epist. 63, torn. ii. p. 843, D. 6i Can. 18, Concil. torn. i. col. 1500, B.
63 Can. 1, Concil. torn. iv. col. 756, B. G1 See Dr. Bennet's History of the joint Use of
precomposed set Forms of Prayer, from chap. viii. to chap. xvi.
16 THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OF [iSTROBtrcrioir.
the joint use of them obtained all over the Christian world.
And therefore I shall take it for granted, that what has been
already said is abundantly sufficient to prove, that the ancient
Jews, our Saviour, his Apostles, and the primitive Christians,
did join in the use of precomposed set forms of prayer. I
shall now proceed to prove,
2. Secondly, That (as far as we can conjecture) they never
joined in any other. And first, that the ancient Jews, our
Saviour, and his Apostles, never joined in any other than pre-
composed set forms, before our Lord's resurrection, may very
well be concluded, from our having no ground to think they
ever did. For as he that refuses to believe a matter of fact,
when it is attested by a competent number of unexceptionable
witnesses, is always thought to act against the dictates of
reason; so does that person act no less against the dictates of
reason, who believes a matter of fact without any ground.
And what ground can any man believe a matter of fact upon,
but the testimony of those, upon whose veracity and judg-
ment in the case he may safely rely ? But what testimonies
can our adversaries produce in this case ? They cannot pre-
tend to any proof (either express or by consequence) within
this compass of time, of the joint use of prayers conceived
extempore, because there is not the lowest degree of evidence,
or so much as a bare probability of it. And therefore they
ought of necessity to conclude, that the ancient Jews, our
Saviour, and his Apostles, never joined in any other prayers
than precomposed set forms, before our Lord's resurrection.
It only remains therefore that I show, that there is no reason
to suppose that they ever joined in any others afterwards.
And here as for our Saviour, we have no particular account
of his praying between the time of his resurrection and that of
his ascension ; and therefore we can determine nothing of his
joining therein. But as for the Apostles and primitive Chris-
tians, we may conclude, that they never joined in any other
than precomposed set forms after our Lord's resurrection, by
the same way of reasoning, as we concluded they never did
before his resurrection. For unless our adversaries can bring
sufficient authorities, to prove that they joined in the use of
prayers conceived extempore, we may very reasonably con-
clude they never did.
I know indeed there are some objections, which our adversa-
ries pick up from words of like sound, and, without considering
the sense, or how the holy penmen used them, urge them for
IKTRODUCTION.] A NATIONAL PRECOMPOSED LITURGY. 17
solid arguments : but these my time will not permit me to ex-
amine, nor is it indeed worth my while. I shall only desire it
may be considered, that nothing more betrays the badness of
a cause, than when groundless suppositions are so zealously
opposed to evident truths. 65
I shall however mention one thing, which is of itself a strong
argument, that the Apostles and primitive Christians did never
join in any other than precomposed set forms of prayer, viz.
The difference between precomposed set forms of prayer, and
prayers conceived extempore, is so very great ; and the alter-
ation from the joint use of the one, to the joint use of the other,
so very remarkable ; that it is utterly impossible to conceive,
that if the joint use of extempore prayers had been ever prac-
tised by the Apostles and first Christians, it could so soon have
been laid aside by every Church in the Christian world ; and
yet not the least notice to be taken, no opposition to be made,
nor so much as a hint given, either of the time or reasons of
its being discontinued, by any of the ancient writers whatso-
ever : but that every nation, that has embraced the Christian
faith, should, with a perfect harmony, without one single ex-
ception, (as far as the most diligent search and information can
reach,) from the Apostles' days to as low a period of time as
our adversaries can desire, unite and agree in performing their
joint worship by the use of precomposed set forms only. Cer-
tainly such an unanimous practice of persons, at the greatest
distance both of time and place, and not only different, but
perfectly opposite in other points of religion, as well as their
civil interests, is, as I said, a strong argument, that the joint
use of precomposed set forms was fixed by the Apostles in all
the churches they planted, and that, by the special providence
of God, it has been preserved as remarkably as the Christian
sacraments themselves.
Much more might be added, but that I am satisfied, what has
already been said is enough to convince any reasonable and un-
prejudiced person ; and to those that are obstinate and biassed
it is in vain to say more. I shall therefore proceed to shew,
II. SECONDLY, That those precomposed set forms of prayer,
in which they joined, were such as the respective congregations
were accustomed to, and thoroughly acquainted with. And
upon this I shall endeavour to be very brief, because a little
65 For further satisfaction see Dr. Bennet's Discourse of the Gift of Prayer, and his
History of the joint Use of precomposed set Forms of Prayer, chap, xviii.
C
18 THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OF [IKTKODCCTIOK.
reflection upon what has been said will effectually demonstrate
its truth.
And, 1st, as to the practice of the ancient Jews, our Saviour,
and his disciples, it cannot be doubted, but that they were ac-
customed to, and well acquainted with, those precomposed set
forms which are contained in the Scriptures : and as for their
other additional prayers, the very same authors, from whom
we derive our accounts of them, do unanimously agree in at-
testing that they were of constant daily use ; and consequently
the Jews, our Saviour, and his disciples, could not but be ac-
customed to them, and thoroughly acquainted with them.
The matter therefore is past all dispute till the Gospel-state
commenced ; and even then also it is equally clear and plain.
For it has been largely shewed, that the Apostles and primitive
Christians did constantly use the Lord's prayer and psalms ;
whereby they must necessarily become accustomed to them,
and thoroughly acquainted with them.
But then it is objected, that " their other prayers, which
made up a great part of their divine service, were not stinted
imposed forms, but such as the ministers themselves composed
and made choice of for their own use in public." But this
may likewise be answered with very little trouble ; because the
same authorities, which prove that they were precomposed set
forms, do also prove that the respective congregations were ac-
customed to them, and thoroughly acquainted with them.
For since the whole congregation did with one accord lift up
their voice in an instant, and vocally join in that prayer which
is recorded in the fourth chapter of the Acts ; since the public
prayers, which the primitive Christians used in the first and
second centuries, were called common prayers, constituted
prayers, and solemn prayers ; since the Liturgy of St. James
was of general use in the Church of Jerusalem within an hun-
dred and sixty years after the apostolical age; since the Church
in Constantino's time used authorized set forms of prayer ; since
the Council of Laodicea expressly provides, that " the same Li-
turgy be constantly used both at the ninth hour, and in the
evening ;" I say, since these things are true, we may appeal to
our adversaries themselves, whether it was possible, in those
and the like cases, for the respective congregations to be other-
wise than accustomed to, and thoroughly acquainted with, those
precomposed set forms of prayer, in which they joined.
We own indeed, that, by reason of the ancient Christians
INTRODUCTION.] A NATIONAL PRECOMPOSED LITURGY. 19
industriously concealing their mysteries, copies of their offices
of joint devotion might not be common. And therefore (ex-
cept the Lord's prayer, which the catechumens were taught
before their baptism, and the psalms, which they read in their
Bibles) none were acquainted with their joint devotions before
they were baptized ; but were forced to learn them by con-
stant attendance upon them, and by the assistance of their
brethren. But the forms, notwithstanding, were well known
to the main body of the congregation ; and those very per-
sons, who at first were strangers to them, did, as well as
others, by frequenting the public assemblies, attain to a per-
fect knowledge of them ; because they were daily accustomed
to them, and consequently, in a very short time, thoroughly
acquainted with them : which was the second thing I was to
prove. I come now in the last place to prove,
III. THIRDLY, That the practice of the ancient Jews, our
Saviour, his Apostles, and the primitive Christians, warrants
the imposition of a national precomposed Liturgy : and this I
shall make appear in the following manner.
1. Their practice proves that a precomposed Liturgy was
constantly imposed upon the laity. For that, without joining
in which it was impossible for the laity to hold Church-com-
munion, was certainly imposed upon the laity. Now their
practice proves that it was impossible for the laity to hold
communion with either the Jewish or Christian Church, un-
less they joined in a precomposed Liturgy ; because the joint
use of a precomposed Liturgy was their particular way of
worship : and consequently as many of the laity as held com-
munion with them must submit to that way of worship ; and
as many as submitted to that way of worship had a precom-
posed Liturgy imposed upon them.
2. Their practice shews that a precomposed Liturgy was
imposed on the clergy, i. e. the clergy were obliged to the use
of a precomposed Liturgy in their public ministrations. For
since the use of such a Liturgy was settled amongst them, it
was undoubtedly expected from the respective clergy, that
they should practise accordingly. For any one that is in the
least versed in antiquity, must know how strict the Church-
governors were in those times, and how severely they would
animadvert upon such daring innovators, as should offer to set
up their own fancies in opposition to a settled rule. So that
it is no wonder, if in the first centuries we meet with no law to
c 2
20 THE LAWFULNESS AND NECESSITY OF [ISTEODCCTIOV.
establish the use of Liturgies ; since those primitive patterns
of obedience looked upon themselves to be as much obliged
by the custom and practice of the Church, as they could be by
the strictest law. But we find that afterwards, when the per-
verseness and innovations of the clergy gave occasion, the
governors of the Church did, by making canons on purpose,
oblige the clergy to the use of precomposed Liturgies ; as
may be seen in the eighteenth canon of the Council of Lao-
dicea; which, as I have shewed, enjoined, that "the same
Liturgy should be used both at the ninth hour, and in the
evening : " which is as plain an imposition of a precomposed
Liturgy, as ever was or can be made. Thus also the second
council of Mela enjoins, ^that " such prayers should be used
by all, as were approved of in the Council, and that none
should be said in the church, but such as had been approved
of by the more prudent sort of persons in a synod : " which is
another as plain imposition of a precomposed Liturgy as words
can express, even upon the clergy.
But though neither clergy nor laity had been thus obliged,
yet one would think that the practice of all the ancient Jews,
our blessed Saviour himself, his Apostles, and the whole
Christian world, for almost fifteen hundred years together,
should be a sufficient precedent for us to follow still. We may
be sure, that had they not known the joint use of Liturgies to
have been the best way of worshipping God, they would
never have practised it : but since they did practise it, we
ought in modesty to allow their concurrent judgments to be
too great to be withstood by any person or society of men ;
and consequently that their practice warrants the imposition
of a precomposed Liturgy.
And if of a precomposed Liturgy, it does for the same
reason warrant the imposition of a national precomposed Li-
turgy : for it appears, from what has been said upon my second
head, that the precomposed Liturgies of both Jews and Chris-
tians were such as the respective congregations were ac-
customed to, and thoroughly acquainted witli ; and therefore
their practice warrants the imposition of such a precomposed
Liturgy, and consequently of a national precomposed Liturgy.
For upon supposition that it is expedient for the congregations
to be accustomed to, and thoroughly acquainted with, the
Liturgies which they join in the use of; it is plain that a
* A before quoted in notei , , p. 15.
INTRODUCTION.] A NATIONAL PRECOMPOSED LITURGY. 21
whole nation may as well have the same Liturgy, as each con-
gregation may have a distinct one. And the clergy of a whole
nation may as well resolve in a synod, or require by a canon
made to that purpose, that the same Liturgy shall be used in
every part of the nation, as leave it to the liberty of every
particular bishop or minister to choose one for his own diocese
or congregation. Nor is such an imposition of a national pre-
composed Liturgy any greater grievance to the laity, than if
each pastor imposed his own precomposed Liturgy or prayer
conceived extempore on his respective flock ; because every
precomposed Liturgy or extempore prayer is as much imposed,
and lays as great a restraint upon the laity, as the imposition
of a national Liturgy. Nor, again, is the synod's imposing a
national Liturgy any grievance to the clergy ; since it is done
either by their proper governors alone, or else (especially ac-
cording to our English constitution) by their proper govern-
ors, joined with their own representatives. So that such im-
position, being either what they are bound to comply with in
point of obedience, or else an act of their own choice, cannot
for that reason be any hardship upon them. V
Since therefore (to draw to a conclusion) this imposition of
a national precomposed Liturgy is warranted by the constant
practice of all the ancient Jews, our Saviour himself, his
Apostles, and the primitive Christians ; and since it is a griev-
ance to neither clergy nor laity, but appears quite, on the
other hand, as well from their concurrent testimonies, as by
our own experience, to be so highly expedient, as that there
can be no decent or uniform performance of God's worship
without it ; our adversaries themselves must allow it to be
necessary.
And if so, they can no longer justify their separation from
the Church of England, upon account of its imposing The
Book of Common Prayer, &c. as a national precomposed
Liturgy ; unless they can shew, that though national precom-
posed Liturgies in general may be lawful ; yet there are some
things prescribed in that of the Church of England, which
render it unlawful to be complied with : which that they can-
not do, is, I hope, (though only occasionally, yet) sufficiently
shewn in the following illustration of it. From which I shall
now detain the reader no longer than to give him some small
account of the original of The Book of Common Prayer, and
of those alterations which were afterwards made in it, before
22 OP THE ORIGINAL OF THE [APPEXDIX TO
it was brought to that perfection in which we now have it.
And this 1 choose to do here, because I know not where more
properly to insert such an account.
An Appendix to the Introductory Discourse, concerning the
Original of the Book of Common Prayer, and the several
Alterations which were afterwards made in it.
HOW the Liturgy BEFORE the Reformation, the Liturgy was only
stood before the in Latin, being a collection of prayers made up
lon ' partly of some ancient forms used in the primitive
Church, and partly of some others of a later original, accom-
modated to the superstitions which had by various means
crept by degrees into the Church of Rome, and from thence
derived to other Churches in communion with it ; like what
we may see in the present Roman Breviary and Missal. And
these being established by the laws of the land, and the canons
of the Church, no other could publicly be made use of: so
that those of the laity, who had not the advantage of a learned
education, could not join with them, or be any otherwise edi-
fied by them. And besides, they being mixed with addresses
to the saints, adoration of the host, images, &c., a great part
of the worship was in itself idolatrous and profane.
But when the nation in king Henry VIII. 's
i^eiatum to ne ^ me wa8 disposed to a reformation, it was thought
Liturgical mat- necessary to correct and amend these offices : and
SVi n ii k Ke n " not only have the service of the Church in the
English or vulgar tongue, (that men might pray,
not n>ith the spirit only, but with the understanding also
and that he, roho occupied the room of the unlearned, might
understand that unto which he mas to say Amen ; agree-
able to the precept of St. Paul ; 67 ) but also to abolish and
take away all that was idolatrous and superstitious, in order to
restore the service of the Church to its primitive purity. For
it was not the design of our Reformers (nor indeed ought it
to have been) to introduce a new form of worship into the
Church, but to correct and amend the old one ; and to purge
it from those gross corruptions which had gradually crept into
it, and so to render the divine service more agreeable to the
Scriptures, and to the doctrine and practice of the primitive
1 Cor. xiv. 15, 18.
INTRODUCTION.] BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 23
Church in the best and purest ages of Christianity. In which
reformation they proceeded gradually, according as they were
able.
And first, the Convocation 68 appointed a committee, A. D.
1537, to compose a book, which was called, The godly and
pious institution of a christen man ; containing a declara-
tion of the Lord's Prayer, the Ave Maria, the Creed, the Ten
Commandments, and the Seven Sacraments, 69 &c. ; which book
was again published A. D. 1540, and 1543, with corrections
and alterations, under the title of A necessary doctrine and
erudition for any christen man .- and as it is expressed in
that preface, was setfurthe by the King, with the advyse of
his Clergy ; the Lordes bothe spirituall and temporall, with
the nether house of Parliament, having both sene and lyked
it very well,
Also in the year 1540, a committee of bishops and divines
was appointed by king Henry VIII. (at the petition of the
Convocation) to reform the rituals and offices of the Church.
And what was done by this committee for reforming the
offices was reconsidered by the Convocation itself two or
three years afterwards, viz. in February, 1542-3. And in the
next year the king and his clergy ordered the prayers for
processions, and litanies, to be put into English, and to be
publicly used. And finally, in the year 1545, the king's
Primer came forth, wherein were contained, amongst other
things, the Lord's Prayer, Creed, Ten Commandments, Venite,
Te I)eum, and other hymns and collects in English ; and
several of them in the same version in which we now use
them. And this is all that appears to have been done in 're-
lation to liturgical matters in the reign of king Henry VIII.
In the year 1547, the first of king Edward
VI., December the second, the Convocation 70 SSSSfftLer
declared the opinion, nullo reclantante, that the compiled in the
Communion ought to be administered to all per- Edward vif
sons under both kinds. Whereupon an Act of
Parliament was made ordering the Communion to be so ad-
ministered. And then a committee of bishops, and other
learned divines, was appointed to compose an uniform order
of Communion, according to the rules of Scripture, and the
use of the primitive Church. In order to this, the corn-
's Fo
paragra
p. 184 to p. 205. < Strype
Strype's Memorials of Archbishop Cranmer, p. 157, 158.
24 OF THE ORIGINAL OF THE [APPENDIX TO
mittec repaired to Windsor Castle, and in that retirement,
within a few days, drew up that form which is printed in
bishop Sparrow's collection. 71 And this being immediately
brought into use the next year, the same persons, being em-
powered by a new commission, prepare themselves to enter
upon a yet nobler work ; and in a few months' time finished
the whole Liturgy, by drawing up public offices not only for
Sundays and Holidays, but for Baptism, Confirmation, Matri-
mony, Burial of the Dead, and other special occasions ; in
which the forementioned Office for the Holy Communion
was inserted, with many alterations and amendments. And
the whole book being so framed, was set forth by the common
agreement and full assent both of the Parliament and
Convocations provincial ; i. e. the two Convocations of the
provinces of Canterbury and York.
The Committee appointed to compose this Liturgy were,
1. Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury; who was
the chief promoter of our excellent Reformation ; and had a
principal hand, not only in compiling the Liturgy, but in all
the steps made towards it. He died a martyr to the religion
of the Reformation, which principally by his means had been
established in the Church of England ; being burnt at Oxford
in the reign of queen Mary, March 21, 1556.
2. Thomas Goodrich, bishop of Ely.
3. Henry Holbech, alias Randes, bishop of Lincoln.
4. George Day, bishop of Chichester.
5. John Skip, bishop of Hereford.
6. Thomas Thirlby, bishop of Westminster.
7. Nicholas Ridley, bishop of Rochester, and afterwards
of London. He was esteemed the ablest man of all that ad-
vanced the Reformation, for piety, learning, and solidity of
judgment. He died a martyr in queen Mary's reign, being
burnt at Oxford, October 16, 1555.
8. Dr. William May, dean of St. Paul's, London, and after-
wards also master of Queen's College in Cambridge.
9. Dr. John Taylor, dean, afterwards bishop of Lincoln. He
was deprived in the beginning of queen Mary's reign, and
died soon after.
10. Dr. Simon Heynes, dean of Exeter.
11. Dr. John Redmayne, master of Trinity College in
Cambridge, and prebendary of Westminster.
12. Dr. Richard Cox, dean of Christ Church in Oxford,
n Page 17.
INTRODUCTION.] BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 25
almoner and privy-councillor to king Edward VI. He was
deprived of all his preferments in queen Mary's reign, and
fled to Frankfort; from whence returning in the reign of
queen Elizabeth, he was consecrated bishop of Ely.
13. Mr. Thomas Robertson, archdeacon of Leicester.
Thus was our excellent Liturgy compiled by And confirmed
martyrs and confessors, together with divers by Act of Par-
other learned bishops and divines ; and being re- hament -
vised and approved by the archbishops, bishops, and clergy
of both the provinces of Canterbury and York, was then con-
firmed by the king and the three estates in parliament, A. D.
1548, 72 who gave it this just encomium, viz. which at this
time BY THE AID OF THE HOLY GHOST, with
uniform agreement is of them concluded, set forth, &c.
But about the end of the year 1550, or the be-
c , ctri i- j. i j. But afterwards
ginning of 1551, some exceptions were taken at submitted to the
some things in this book, which were thought to censure J BU-
. . . _ cer and Martyr.
savour too much of superstition. To remove
these objections, therefore, archbishop Cranmer proposed to
review it ; and to this end called in the assistance of Martin
Bucer and Peter Martyr, two foreigners, whom he had invited
over from the troubles in Germany ; who not understanding
the English tongue, had Latin versions prepared for them :
one Alesse, a Scotch divine, translating it on purpose for the
use of Bucer ; and Martyr being furnished with the version of
Sir John Cheke, who had also formerly translated it into La-
tin. 73 What liberties this encouraged them to TT
, i .1 / ii_ .e i T -i. j Upon whose ex-
take in their censures or the first Liturgy, and ceptions u was
how far they were instrumental to the laying reviewed and ai-
aside several very primitive and venerable usages,
I shall have properer opportunities of shewing hereafter, when
I come to treat of the particulars in the body of the book. It
will be sufficient here just to note the most considerable addi-
tions and alterations that were then made : some of which
must be allowed to be good ; as especially the addition of the
sentences, exhortation, confession, and absolution, at the
beginning of the morning and evening services, which in the
first Common Prayer Book began with the Lord's Prayer.
The other changes were the removing of some rites and cere-
monies retained in the former book ; such as the use of oil in
72 Second and third of Edward VI. chap. i. n Strype's Memorials of Archbishop
Cranmer, p. 210.
26 OF THE ORIGINAL OF THE [XPPEMBIX TO
baptism ; the unction of the sick ; prayers for souls depart-
ed, both in the Communion -office, and in that for the burial
of the dead ; the leaving out the invocation of the Holy Ghost
in the consecration of the Eucharist, and the prayer of obla-
tion that was used to follow it ; the omitting the rubric, that
ordered water to be mixed with wine, with several other less
material variations. The habits also, that were prescribed by
the former book, were ordered by this to be laid aside ; and,
lastly, a rubric was added at the end of the Communion-office
to explain the reason of kneeling at the Sacrament. The book
thus revised and altered was again confirmed
firmecMtiy Act of in parliament A. D. 1551, who declared, that the
Parliament. alterations that were made in it proceeded from
Both which Acts curiosity rather than any worthy cause. But
a e Mlry peale(lby both this and the former act made in 1548, were
repealed in the first year of queen Mary, as not
being agreeable to the Romish superstition, which she was
resolved to restore.
But the second But u P on * ne accession of queen Elizabeth,
book of K. Ed- the act of repeal was reversed ; and, in order to
es^biilhedTtfthe the restoring of the English service, several learn-
reignof a Eliza- e d divines were appointed to take another review
of king Edward's Liturgies, and to frame from
them both a book for the use of the Church of England. The
names of those who, Mr. Carnden 74 says, were employed, are
these that follow :
Dr. Matthew Parker, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury.
Dr. Richard Cox, afterwards bishop of Ely.
Dr. May.
Dr. Bill.
Dr. James Pilkington, afterwards bishop of Durham.
Sir Thomas Smith.
Mr. David Whitehead.
Mr. Edmund Grindall, afterwards bishop of London, and
then archbishop of Canterbury.
To these, Mr. S try pe says, 74 were added Dr. Edwin Sandys,
afterwards bishop of Worcester, and Mr. Edward Guest, a very
learned man, who was afterwards archdeacon of Canterbury,
almoner to the queen, and bishop of Rochester, and afterwards
of Salisbury. And this last person, Mr. Strype thinks, had
the main care of the whole business ; being, as he supposes, re-
commended by Parker to supply his absence. It was debated
i* In his History of Q. Elizabeth. '* Strypc's Annals of Q. Elizabeth, p. 82, 83.
INTRODUCTION.] BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 27
at first, which of the two books of king Edward should be re-
ceived ; and secretary Cecil sent several queries to Guest,
concerning the reception of some particulars in the first book ;
as prayers for the dead, the prayer of consecration, the de-
livery of the sacrament into the mouth of the communicant, &C. 7 *
But however, the second book of king Edward was pitched
upon as the book to be proposed to the parliament to be
established, who accordingly passed and commanded it to be
used, rvith one alteration or addition of certain lessons to
be used on every Sunday in the year, and the form of the
Litany altered and corrected, and two sentences added in
the delivery of the sacrament to the communicants, and
none other, or otherwise.
The alteration in the Litany here mentioned was the leav-
ing out a rough expression, viz. from the tyranny of the
Bishop of Rome, and all his detestable enormities, which
was a part of the last deprecation in both the books of king
Edward ; and the adding those words to the first petition for
the queen, strengthen in the true worshipping of thee, in
righteousness and holiness of life, which were not in before.
The two sentences added in the delivery of the sacrament
were these, the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was
given for thee ; or the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which was shed for thee ; preserve thy body and soul to
everlasting life : which were taken out of king Edward's first
book, and were the whole forms then used : whereas in the
second book of that king, these sentences were left out, and
in the room of them were used, take, eat, or drink this, with
what follows ; but now in queen Elizabeth's book both these
forms were united.
Though, besides these here mentioned, there are some
other variations in this book from the second of king Edward,
viz. the first rubric, concerning the situation of the chancel
and the proper place of reading divine service, was altered ;
the habits enjoined by the first book of king Edward, and
forbid by the second, were now restored. At the end of the
Litany was added a prayer for the queen, and another for the
clergy. And lastly, the rubric that was added at the end of
the Communion-office, in the second book of king Edward
VI., against the notion of our Lord's real and essential pre-
sence in the holy Sacrament, was left out of this. For it
78 Strype, ut supra.
28 OF THE ORIGINAL OF THE [APPENDIX TO
being the queen's design to unite the nation in one faith, it
was therefore recommended to the divines to see that there
should be no definition made against the aforesaid notion, but
that it should remain as a speculative opinion not determined,
in which every one was left to the freedom of his own mind.
And in this state the Liturgy continued with-
And some al- .. ,, ,, .. .-ii .1 t> * e
terationsmadein out any further alteration, till the first year of
kin" JamelT f ^' n o J ame8 ! when, after the conference at
Hampton Court, between that prince with arch-
bishop Whitgift of Canterbury, and other bishops and divines,
on the one side ; and Dr. Reynolds, with some other Puritans,
on the other, there were some forms of thanksgiving added
at the end of the Litany, and an addition made to the Cate-
chism concerning the sacraments ; the Catechism before that
time ending with the answer to that question which immedi-
ately follows the Lord's prayer. And in the rubric in the
beginning of the Office for private baptism, the words lawful
minister were inserted, to prevent midwives or laymen from
presuming to baptize, with one or two more small alterations.
And the whole ^"^ m ^* 8tatC '* contmuec ' to tne ^ me f
book" again* re- king Charles II., who, immediately after his
Resloratfo" the restorat i n at tne request of several of the
Presbyterian ministers, was willing to comply to
another review, and therefore issued out a commission, dated
March 25, 1661, to empower twelve of the bishops, and
twelve of the Presbyterian divines, to consider of the objec-
tions raised against the Liturgy, and to make such reasonable
and necessary alterations as they should jointly agree upon :
nine assistants on each side being added to supply the place
of any of the twelve principals who should happen to be ab-
sent. The names of them are as follow :
On the Epitcoparian side.
Principalt.
Dr. Frucn, archb. of York.
Dr. Shelden, bp. of London.
Dr. Cosin, bp. of Durham.
Dr. Warner, bp. of Rochester.
* Dr. King, bp. of Chichestcr.
On the Pretbyterian tide.
Principals.
Dr. Reynolds, bp. of Norwich.
Dr. Tuckney.
Dr. Conant.
Dr. Spurstow.
Dr. Wallis.
I do not meet with this name either in the copy of the commission that wa
printed in 1661, in the account of the proceeding* of the Commissioners, or in that
copy of it which Dr. Nichols has printed at the end of hU preface to hi* book upon
the Common Prayer; nor in that which Mr. Collier (rives us in his Ecclesiastical
History.* But Mr. Baxter inserts it in the copy of the commission that he has printed
vol. it. p. arc.
INTRODUCTION.]
BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.
29
On the Episcoparian side.
Principals.
Dr. Henchman, bp. of Sarum.
Dr. Morley, bp. of Worcester.
Dr. Sanderson, bp. of Lincoln.
Dr. Laney, bp. of Peterborough.
Dr. Walton, bp. of Chester.
Dr. Stern, bp. of Carlisle.
Dr. Gauden, bp. of Exeter.
Coadjutors.
Dr. Earles, dean of Westminster.
Dr. Heylin.
Dr. Hackett.
Dr. Barwick.
Dr. Gunning.
Dr. Pearson.
Dr. Pierce.
Dr. Sparrow.
Mr. Thorndike.
On the Presbyterian side.
Principals.
Dr. Manton.
Mr. Calamy.
Mr. Baxter.
Mr. Jackson.
Mr. Case.
Mr. Clark.
Mr. Newcomen.
Coadjutors.
Dr. Horton.
Dr. Jacomb.
Mr. Bates.
Mr. Rawlinson.
Mr. Cooper.
Dr. Lightfoot.
Dr. Collins.
Dr. Woodbridge.
Mr. Drake.
These commissioners had several meetings at the Savoy,
but all to very little purpose : the Presbyterians heaping to-
gether all the old scruples that the Puritans had for above a
hundred years been raising against the Liturgy, and, as if they
were not enough, swelling the number of them with many
new ones of their own. To these, one and all, they demand
compliance on the Church side, and will hear of no contradic-
tion even in the minutest circumstances. But the completes!
piece of assurance was the behaviour of Baxter, who (though
the king's commission gave them no further power, than to
compare the Common Prayer Book with the most ancient
Liturgies that had been used in the Church, in the most
primitive and purest times ; requiring them to avoid, as much
as possible, all unnecessary alterations of the Forms and Li-
turgy wherewith the people were altogether acquainted, and
had so long received in the Church of England) would not so
much as allow that our Liturgy was capable of amendment, but
confidently pretended to compose a new one of his own ; and,
without any regard to any other Liturgy whatsoever, either
modern or ancient, amassed together a dull, tedious, crude,
in the narrative of his own life,* and Dr. Nichols mentions him in his introduction to
his Defence of the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England : and there are
not twelve principal Commissioners on the Church side without him : and therefore I
suppose he was left out of the copy of the commission in 1661, by the printer's mistake,
and that from thence Dr. Nichols and Mr. Collier might continue the omission.
6 Page 303.
30 OF THE ORIGINAL OF THE [APPEBDIJC TO
and indigested heap of stuff; which, together with the rest
of the commissioners on the Presbyterian side, he had the
insolence to offer to the bishops, to be received and estab-
lished in the room of the Liturgy. Such usage as this, we
may reasonably think, must draw the disdain and contempt
of all that were concerned for the Church. So that the con-
ference broke up, without any thing done, except that some
particular alterations were proposed by the episcopal divines,
which, the May following, were considered and agreed to by
the whole Clergy in Convocation. The principal of them
were, that several lessons in the calendar were changed for
others more proper for the days ; the prayers upon particu-
lar occasions were disjoined from the Litany, and the two
prayers to be used in the Ember-weeks, the prayer for the
Parliament, that for all conditions of men, and the general
thanksgiving, were added : several of the collects were al-
tered, the Epistles and Gospels were taken out of the last
translation of the Bible, being read before according to the
old translation : the office for baptism of those of riper
years, and the forms of prayer to be used at sea, were
added. 77 In a word, the whole Liturgy was then brought to
that state in which it now stands ; and was unanimously sub-
scribed by both houses of Convocation, of both provinces, on
Friday, the 20th of December, 1661. And being brought to
the house of lords the March following, both houses very
readily passed an act for its establishment ; and the earl of
Clarendon, then high chancellor of England, was ordered to
return the thanks of the lords to the bishops and clergy of
both provinces, for the great care and industry shewn in the
review of it.
n,. ,! Thus have I given a brief historical account
The compiling -._. -i- iL n i / <-
of our Liturgy, of the first compiling the Book of Common
dtart!r Prayer, and of the several reviews that were
and not a civil afterwards taken of it by our bishops and Con-
vocations : one end of which was, that so " who-
soever will may easily see (as bishop Sparrow shews on a like
occasion 78 ) the notorious slander which some of the Roman per-
suasion have endeavoured to cast upon our Church, viz. That
her reformation hath been altogether lay and parliamentary."
For it appears by the proceedings observed in the reforma-
" For a more particular account of what was done in this review, see the Preface to the
Common Prayer Book. w Preface to hii collection of Article*, &c., towards the end.
INTRODUCTION.] BOOK OF COMMON PRAYEE. 31
tion of the service of the Church, that this reformation was
regularly made by the bishops and clergy in their provincial
synods ; the king and parliament only establishing by the
civil sanction what was there done by ecclesiastical authority.
" It was indeed (as my lord bishop of Sarum has excellently
well observed 79 ) confirmed by the authority of parliament,
and there was good reason to desire that, to give it the force
of a law ; but the authority of [the book and] those changes
is wholly to be derived from the Convocation, who only con-
sulted about them and made them. And the parliament did
take that care in the enacting them, that might shew they did
only add the force of a law to them : for in passing them it
was ordered, that the Book of Common Prayer and Ordina-
tion should only be read over, (and even that was carried
upon some debate ; for many, as I have been told, moved
that the book should be added to the act, as it was sent to
the parliament from the Convocation, without ever reading
it ; but that seemed indecent and too implicit to others,) and
there was no change made in a tittle by parliament. So that
they only enacted by a law what the Convocation had done."
And therefore, as his lordship says in another place, 80 " As it
were a great scandal on the first general councils to say, that
they had no authority for what they did, but what they de-
rived from the civil power ; so is it no less unjust to say,
because the parliament empowered (I suppose his lordship
means approved] some persons to draw up forms for the
more pure administration of the sacraments, and enacted that
these only should be lawfully used in this realm, which is the
civil sanction ; that therefore these persons had no other
authority for what they did. Was it ever heard of that the
civil sanction, which only makes any constitution to have the
force of a law, gives it any other authority than a civil one ?
The prelates and other divines, that compiled [these forms],
did it by virtue of the authority they had from Christ, as
pastors of his Church ; which did empower them to teach the
people the pure word of God, and to administer the sacra-
ments, and to perform all holy functions, according to the
Scripture, the practice of the primitive Church, and the rules
of expediency and reason ; and this they ought to have done,
though the civil power had opposed it : in which case their
duty had been to have submitted to whatever severities and
Vindication of Ordinations of the Church of England, p. 53, 54. P. 74, 75.
32 OF THE ORIGINAL OF THE [APPENDIX TO
persecutions they might have been put to for the name of
Christ, or the truth of his gospel. But on the other hand,
when it pleased God to turn the hearts of those which had
the chief power, to set forward this good work ; then they
did, as they ought, with all thankfulness acknowledge so
great a blessing, and accept and improve the authority of the
civil power, for adding the sanction of a law to the reforma-
tion, in all the parts and branches of it. So by the authority
they derived from Christ, and the warrant they had by the
Scripture and the primitive Church, these prelates and di-
vines made those alterations and changes in the ordinal ;
and the king and the parliament, who are vested with the
supreme legislative power, added their authority to them, to
make them obligatory on the subjects." These excellent
words of this right reverend prelate are a full and complete
answer to the Romanists' cavil of the lay original of our
Liturgy. And I cannot but wonder, that others, who have
wrote exceeding well on the Common Prayer Book, have not
been careful to obviate this objection ; but have indeed rather
given occasion for it, by intimating as if the Book of Common
Prayer had been compiled by some persons only by virtue
and authority of the king's commission : whereas it was in-
deed a committee of the two houses of Convocation, and the
book was revised and authorized by the whole synod, and in
a synodical way, before it received the civil sanction from
the king and parliament.
And for this reason I have given a true account of this
matter, that others who are led away by Erastian principles,
and think that the civil magistrate only has authority in mat-
ters of religion, may be convinced that this is not agreeable
to the doctrine of our Church ; who declares in her twentieth
article, that the Church (that is, the ecclesiastical governors,
the bishops and their presbyters ; for there may be a Church
where there is no Christian civil magistrate) hath porter to
decree rites and ceremonies and authority in matters of
faith: and affirms again in the thirty-seventh article, that
nhere ne attribute to the Queen's Majesty the chief govern-
ment, me give not to our Princes the ministering either of
God's nord, or of the Sacraments ; but that only preroga-
tive, which we see to have been given always to all godly
Princes in holy Scripture by God himself; that is, that
they should rule all estates and degrees committed to their
INTRODUCTION.] BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 33
charge by God, whether they be ecclesiastical or temporal,
and restrain with the CIVIL sword the stubborn and evil
doers. Our Liturgy was therefore first established by the
Convocations or provincial Synods of the realm, and thereby
became obligatory in foro conscientice ; and was then con-
firmed and ratified by the supreme magistrate in parliament,
and so also became obligatory in foro cimli. It has therefore
all authority both ecclesiastical and civil. As it is established
by ecclesiastical authority, those who separate themselves
and set up another form of worship are schismatics ; and
consequently are guilty of a damnable sin, which no tolera-
tion granted by the civil magistrate can authorize or justify.
But as it is settled by act of parliament, the separating from
it is only an offence against the state ; and as such may be
pardoned by the state. The act of toleration therefore (as it
is called) has freed the Dissenters from being offenders
against the state, notwithstanding their separation from the
worship prescribed by the Liturgy : but it by no means ex-
cuses or can excuse them from the schism they have made
in the Church ; they are still guilty of that sin, and will be so
as long as they separate, notwithstanding any temporal au-
thority to indemnify them.
And here I designed to have put an end to the Introduc-
tion ; but having in the first part of it vindicated the use of
Liturgies in general, and in this Appendix given an historical
account of our own ; I think I cannot more properly conclude
the whole than with Dr. Comber's excellent and just en-
comium of the latter ; by which the reader will, I doubt not,
be very well entertained, and perhaps be rendered more in-
quisitive after those excellencies and beauties which are here
mentioned, and which it is one chief design of the following
treatise to shew. In hopes of this, therefore, I shall here
transcribe the very words of the reverend and learned author.
" Though all churches in the world," saith
he, 81 " have, and ever had forms of prayer ; yet ^Stag
none was ever blessed with so comprehensive,
so exact, and so inoffensive a composure as ours : which is
so judiciously contrived, that the wisest may exercise at once
their knowledge and devotion; and yet so plain, that the
most ignorant may pray with understanding : so full, that
nothing is omitted which is fit to be asked in public ; and so
si Dr. Comber's preface, p. 4, of the folio edition.
D
34 OP THE ORIGINAL OF THE [AEKDIX TO
particular, that it compriseth most things which we would ask
in private ; and yet so short, as not to tire any that hath true
devotion : its doctrine is pure and primitive ; its ceremonies
so few and innocent, that most of the Christian world agree in
them : its method is exact and natural ; its language signifi-
cant and perspicuous; most of the words and phrases being
taken out of the holy Scriptures, and the rest are the expres-
sions of the first ana purest ages ; so that whoever takes ex-
ception at these must quarrel with the language of the Holy
Ghost, and fall out with the Church in her greatest innocence ;
and in the opinion of the most impartial and excellent
Grotius, (who was no member of, nor had any obligation to,
this Church,) the English Liturgy comes so near to the
primitive pattern, that none of the Reformed Churches can
compare with it. 82
" And if any thing external be needful to recommend that
which is so glorious within ; we may add that the compilers
were [most of them] men of great piety and learning ; [and
several of them] either martyrs or confessors upon the resti-
tution of Popery ; which as it declares their piety, so doth the
judicious digesting of these prayers evidence their learning.
For therein a scholar may discern close logic, pleasing rheto-
ric, pure divinity, and the very marrow of the ancient doc-
trine and discipline ; and yet all made so familiar, that the
unlearned may safely say Amen. 83
" Lastly, all these excellencies have obtained that universal
reputation which these prayers enjoy in all the world : so that
they are most deservedly admired by the Eastern Churches,
and had in great esteem by the most eminent Protestants be-
yond sea, 8 * who are the most impartial judges that can be de-
sired. In short, this Liturgy is honoured by all but the Ro-
manist, whose interest it opposeth, and the Dissenters, whose
prejudices will not let them see its lustre. Whence it is that
they call that, which the Papists hate because it is Protestant,
superstitious and popish. But when we consider that the
best things in a bad world have the most enemies, as it doth
not lessen its worth, so it must not abate our esteem, because
it hath malicious and misguided adversaries.
" How endless it is to dispute with these, the little success
of the best arguments, managed by the wisest men, do too
sadly testify : wherefore we shall endeavour to convince the
Grotiu* Ep. ad Boet M 1 Cor. xiv. 18. * See Durel't Defence of the Liturgy.
INTRODUCTION.] BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 35
enemies, by assisting the friends of our Church devotions :
and by drawing the veil which the ignorance and indevotion
of some, and the passion and prejudice of others, have cast
over them, represent the Liturgy in its true and native lustre :
which is so lovely and ravishing, that, like the purest beauties,
it needs no supplement of art and dressing, but conquers by
its own attractions, and wins the affections of all but those who
do not see it clearly. This will be sufficient to shew, that
whoever desires no more than to worship God with zeal and
knowledge, spirit and truth, purity and sincerity, may do it
by these devout forms. And to this end may the God of
peace give us all meek hearts, quiet spirits, and devout affec-
tions ; and free us from all sloth and prejudice, that we may
have full churches, frequent prayers, and fervent charity;
that uniting in our prayers here, we may all join in his praises
hereafter, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
THE END OP THE INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE.
'CHAPTER I.
OP THE
TABLES, RULES, AND CALENDAR.
PART I.
OF THE TABLES AND RULES.
SECT. I. Of the Rule for finding Easter.
THE proper Lessons and Psalms being spoken to at large
in other parts of this treatise, there is no need to say any thing
particularly concerning the Tables that appoint them. I shall
therefore pass them by, and begin with the Rule
for finding Easter,- which stands thus in all
Books of Common Prayer printed in or since the
year 1752 : Easter-day is always the first Sunday after the
full Moon, which happens upon or next after the twenty -
1 In this edition, after the example of all others published since the year 1752, this
chapter is printed with the alterations necessary to adapt it to the new Calendar, Ta-
bles, and Rules, which were ordered to be prefixed to all future editions of the Book
of Common Prayer, by the Act 24 Geo. II., entitled, An Act for regulating the com-
mencement of the year; and for correcting the calendar.
D 2
36 OP THE TABLES AND RULES. [CHAP. i.
first day of March ,- and if the full Moon happens upon
Sunday, Easter-day is the Sunday after.
Upon what occs- ^" ^ shew upon what occasion the rule
ston this rule was framed, it is to be observed, that in the first
was framed. a g eg Q f Christianity there arose a great difference
between the churches of Asia and other churches, about the
day whereon Easter ought to be celebrated.
Easter differently r ^^ ie churches of Asia kept their Easter upon
observed by dif- the same day on which the Jews celebrated their
L passover, viz. upon the fourteenth day of their
first month Nisan (which month began at the new moon next
to the vernal 2 equinox) ; and this they did upon what day of
the week soever it fell ; and were from thence called Quarto-
decimans, or such as kept Easter upon the fourteenth day
after the 4>ao-tc, or appearance of the moon : whereas the other
churches, especially those of the West, did not follow this
custom, but kept their Easter on the Sunday following the
Jewish passover ; partly the more to honour the day, and partly
to distinguish between Jews and Christians. Both sides plead-
ed apostolical tradition : these latter pretending to derive their
practice from St. Peter and St. Paul ; whilst the others, viz.
the Asiatics, said they imitated the example of St. John. 3
This difference for a considerable time con-
e^ver^whe^ob- tinned with a great deal of Christian charity and
served on the forbearance ; but at length became the occasion
c^nclf office! f great bustles in the Church ; which grew to
such a height at last, that Constantino thought it
time to use his interest and authority to allay the heat of the
opposite parties, and to bring them to a uniformity of practice.
To which end he got a canon to be passed in the great general
Council of Nice, " That every where the great feast of Easter
should be observed upon one and the same day ; and that not
on the day of the Jewish passover, but, as had been generally
observed, upon the Sunday afterwards." And 4 that this dis-
pute might never arise again, these paschal canons were then
also established, viz.
^ 1. "That the twenty-first day of March shall
The Paschal . j .1 __>
canons passed in be accounted the vernal equinox.
Ni e ce Council f 2 ' " That the ful1 moon happening upon or
next after the twenty-first day of March, shall be
taken for the full moon of Nisan.
* Joaephui, Antiq. Judaic, lib. 3. cap. 10. * Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 5, c. 23, 24, p. 193
*c. Vide et 1. 4, c. 14. 4 Eusebius in Vita Constant. I. 3, c. 18.
PABT I.] OF THE TABLES AND RULES. 37
3. " That the Lord's day next following that full moon be
Easter-day.
4. " But if the full moon happen upon a Sunday, Easter-
day shall be the Sunday after."
. 3. Agreeable to these is the Kule for find- Them0 onsto be
ing Easter, which we are now discoursing of. But found out by the
here we must observe, that the Fathers of the G
next century ordered the new and full moons to be found out
by the cycle of the moon, consisting of nineteen years, invent-
ed by Meton the Athenian, 5 and from its great usefulness in
ascertaining the moon's age, as it was thought for ever, was
called the Golden Number ; and was for some time usually
written in letters of gold. By this cycle, I say, the Fathers
of the next century ordered the moon's age to be found out ;
which they thought a certain way, since at the end of nine-
teen years the moon returns to have her changes on the same
day of the solar year and month, whereon they happened nine-
teen years before. For which reason the cycle was some time
afterwards placed in the calendar, in the first column of every
month, in such manner as that every number of the cycle
should stand against those days in each month, on which the
new moons should happen in that year of the cycle. But
now it is to be noted, that though at the end of every nine-
teen years the moon changes on the very same days of the
solar months, on which it changed nineteen years before ; yet
the change happens about an hour and half sooner every nine-
teen years than in the former ; which, in the time that the
Golden Number stood in the calendar, had made an alter-
ation of about five days.
. 4. By this means it happened that Easter Easter was kept
was kept sometimes sooner and sometimes later sometimes sooner
than the rule seemed to direct, and the Fathers ^terTan'thT
of the Nicene Council intended. For it is very rule seems to
manifest that they designed that the first full
moon after the vernal equinox should be the paschal full
moon : (for otherwise they knew that the resurrection of our
blessed Lord could not be commemorated at the time it
happened :) but then, for want of better skill in astronomy in
those times, they confined the equinox to the twenty-first of
March ; whereas it hath since been discovered not only that
the moon's cycle of nineteen years complete was too long, but
also that the Julian solar year, which they reckoned by, ex-
5 Blondel's Roman Calendar, part I. lib. 2, c. 5.
38
OF THE TABLES AND RULES.
{CHAP. i.
ceeds the true solar one by about eleven minutes every year ;
which had brought the equinoxes forward eleven or twelve
days from the time of the Nicene Council. Hence it must
often have happened, that the first full moon after the twenty-
first of March hath been different from the first full moon
after the vernal equinox ; and that they who have observed
Easter according to the letter of the Nicene canons, and the
rule for finding the paschal full moon by the Golden Number
as placed soon after in the calendar, have not always observed
it according to the intent of those Fathers. But yet as soon
as ever the canons were passed, the whole catholic Church
was very strict in adhering to them ; and so tender of the au-
thority of them, that about two hundred years after the
Nicene Council this following table was drawn up by Diony-
sius Exiguus, a Koman ; wherein are ex-
pressed all those days on which the first
full moons after the twenty-first of March
happen in all the nineteen years of the lunar
cycle : which was so well approved o$ that,
by the Council of Chalcedon holden a little
after, it was agreed that the Sunday next
following the Paschal Limits answering the
Golden Numbers, as they are expressed in
this table, should be Easter-day ; and that
whosoever celebrated Easter on any other
day should be accounted an heretic.
According to this table was Easter ob-
served from the year of Christ 534, or
thereabouts, till the year 1582 : at which
time pope Gregory XIII. reformed the
calendar, and brought back the vernal
equinox to the twenty-first of March. So
that the Roman Church keeping their Easter
from that time on the first Sunday after the
first full moon next after the twenty-first of
The Paschal Limits
answering the Gold-
en Numbers, accord-
ing to the Julian ac-
count.
GoUrn
The Puchal
Numb.
LlnuU.
1
Aprils.
2
March 25.
3
April 13.
4
April 2.
5
March 22.
6
April 10.
7
March SO.
8
April 18.
9
April 7.
10
March 27.
11
April IS.
IS
April 4.
13
March 24.
14
April 12.
15
Aprill .
16
March 21.
17
April 9.
18
March 29.
19
April 17.
March, observed it exactly according to the use of the primi-
tive Church. And in the year 1752, the like reformation was
made in our calendar, by ordering the third day of September
in that year to be called the fourteenth, thereby suppressing
eleven intermediate days, and bringing back the vernal
equinox to the twenty-first of March, as it was at the time of
the Nicene Council.
PART i.] OF THE TABLES AND RULES, 39
SECT. II. Of the Tables for finding Easter.
AFTER the Rule for finding Easter is inserted an account
when the rest of the movable feasts and holy-days begin ,
and after that follow certain tables relating to the feasts and
vigils that are to be observed in the Church of England, and
other days of fasting or abstinence, with an account of certain
solemn days for which particular services are appointed. But
these, and every thing relating to them, I shall have a more
convenient opportunity to treat of hereafter ; and therefore
shall pass on now to the Tables for finding Easter.
When the Nicene Council had settled the true The bishop of
time for keeping Easter in the method set down Alexandria was
in the first section of this chapter, the bishop of togTve mSice'of 1
Alexandria (for the Egyptians at that time ex- Easter-day to
i, j . , , v , i j / \ other Churches.
celled in the knowledge of astronomy) was ap-
pointed to give notice of Easter-day to the pope and other
patriarchs, to be notified by them to the metropolitans, and by
them again to all other bishops. 6 But this injunction could
be but temporary : for length of time must needs make such
alteration in the state of affairs, as must render any such
method of notifying the time of Easter impracticable. And
therefore this was observed no longer than till a Cycle or
course of all the variations which might happen in regard to
Easter-day might be settled.
. 2. Hereupon the computists applied them-
selves to frame such a Cycle: and the vernal Cycl d e r s a a ^ ards
equinox being fixed by the Council of Nice, and
Easter-day by them also appointed to be always the first Sun-
day after the first full moon next after the vernal equinox ;
they had nothing to do, but to calculate all the revolutions of
the moon and of the days of the week, and inquire, whether,
after a certain number of years, the new moons, and conse-
quently the full moons, did not fall out, not only on the same
days of the solar year, (for that they do after every nineteen
years,) but also on the same days of the week on which they
happened before, and in the same ordinary course. Because,
by calculating a table for such a number of years, they might
find Easter for ever ; viz. by beginning again at the end of
the last year, and going round as it were in a circle.
f See Pope Leo's Epistle to the Emperor Marcianus, Epist. 64.
40 OF THE TABLES AND RULES. [CHAP. t.
And first a Cycle was framed at Rome for
hc yean. f M eighty -f our years, and generally received in the
Western Church ; it being thought that in that
space of time the changes of the moon would return to the
same days both of the week and year in such manner as they
had done before. 7 During the time that Easter was kept ac-
cording to this Cycle, Britain was separated from the Roman
empire, and the British churches for some time after that
separation continued to keep their Easter by this table of
eighty-four years. But soon after that separation, the Church
of Rome and several others discovered great deficiencies in
this account, and therefore left it for another, which was more
perfect : not but that also had its defects, though it has been
continued ever since in the Greek Church, and some others ;
and till very lately in our own. 8
The Cycle of 532 ^he Cycle I mean was drawn up about the
years, or victori- year 457, by Victorius or F'ictorinus, a native
of Aquitain, an eminent mathematician : who,
observing that the Cycle of the Sunday letter consisted of
twenty-eight years, and consequently that the days of the
week have a complete revolution, and begin and go on again
every twenty-eight years, just in the same order that they did
twenty-eight years before, and that the Cycle of the Moon re-
turned to have her changes on the same days of the solar year
and month, whereon they happened nineteen years before,
but not on the same days of the week : Victorius, I say, hav-
ing observed this, and endeavouring to compose a Cycle,
which should contain all the changes of the days of the week,
and of the moon also, (which was necessary to find Easter for
ever ;) he multiplied these two Cycles of nineteen and twenty-
eight together, and from thence composed his period of five
hundred and thirty-two years, from him ever after called the
Victorian period. And in this time he supposed the new
moons would fall out on the same days both of the month
and week, on which they happened before, and in the same
orderly course. So that this day (be it what day it will) is
7 See the bishop of Worcester's Historical Account of Church-government, p. 67, and
Bede Hist. 1. 5, c. 22, in fin. ' This alteration of the Cycle to find Easter was the
cause that the Britons, who kept to the old account, differed from the Romans in the
time of celebrating this festival. For though both kept it on a Sunday, according to
the rule of the Council of Nice ; yet they differed as to the particular Sunday. This
upon the coming in of Augustin the monk, first archbishop of Canterbury, caused some
contests in this island, of which Bede gives a large account, [Hist. Eccl. 1. 3, c. 25, 1. 5,
c. 22,] where it may be seen that the Britons never were Quartwlecimani, as some
have imagined them to be.
PART r.] OF THE TABLES AND RULES. 41
the same day of the year, month, moon, and week, that it was
five hundred and thirty-two years ago, or will be five hun-
dred and thirty-two years hence ; i. e. if this calculation has
no defect in it, as it was then thought to have none, or so
little as would make no considerable variation. And when
the first full moon after the vernal equinox, or March 21, hap-
pens on the same day both of the month and week, as it did any
year before ; Easter-day must also fall on the same day on
which it happened that year : so that Easter, according to
this computation, must go through all its variations in five
hundred and thirty-two years ; forasmuch as the moon and
the days of the week have all their variations in that space.
. 3. This calculation was thought to come TWsCydeestab .
much nearer to the truth (as indeed it did) than lishedtythe
the former table of eighty-four years : for which Church -
reason it was generally followed in a little time. And the
fourth Council of Orleans, A. D. 541, decreed, that 9 "the
feast of Eastei should be celebrated every year according to
the table of Victorius ; and that the day whereon it is to be
celebrated every year should be declared by the bishop in the
time of divine service on the feast of Epiphany." However
in a little time it was thought more convenient
to adapt these tables to the calendar, so that a^apt^toThe 3
every one, who had a book of the divine offices calendar in the
i J i i j i J i-i i service book.
wherein this calendar was placed, might know
the day whereon Easter should be kept, without any further
information.
But the whole table being of too great a The occasion of
length to be inserted into one book of divine the Golden
n* -A. f j J ui . i iU Numher and Do-
offices, it was found more advisable to place the m inkai Letters
Golden Number, or Cycle of the moon, in the being placed in
, J -. i , n ... the calendar.
first column of the calendar, cind the Dominical
Letters in another column ; in such manner that the Golden
Number should point out the new moons in every month :
by which means it would be easy to find out the fourteenth
day of the Easter moon, or the first full moon after the
twenty-first day of March, and then, by the Dominical Letter
following that day, to be assured of the day whereon Easter
must be kept.
. 4. And from these two columns was drawn The table to fiml
up a Table to find Easter for ever ; that so at any Easter for ever
Can. I. Concil. torn. v. col. 381, E.
42 OF THE TABLES AND RULES. [CHAP. i.
erroneou*. New time, by only knowing the Golden Number and
b y bles the Dominical Letter, it might be seen at one
view (without any trouble or computation) what
day Easter would happen on in any year required. But that
table being founded on this erroneous supposition, viz. that
the Golden Numbers, as fixed in the calendar, would for ever
shew the day of the new moon in every month, which they
have long since failed to do, it is laid aside, and others sub-
stituted in its place, whereby to find the paschal full moon
and Easter-day till the year 1900 ; when the Golden Numbers
must be shifted (according to the tables prepared for that
purpose 10 ) to make them continue to answer the ends for
which they stand in the tables and calendar. But it does not
fall within our present design to consider tables which are
calculated for so distant a time.
SECT. III. Of the Golden Number.
I PASS on now to the Table of movable feasts
f or Jifty-t years, where it may be expected I
should speak of three things therein mentioned,
viz. the Golden Number, the Epact, and the Dominical Letter.-
and of these the first that offers itself is the Golden Number.-
of this, therefore, in the first place.
8. 2. And this, as we have already hinted,
By whom in- . . j i i_ o f * .
vented, and why was invented long before our Saviours nativity
Num d b&c n bv Meton the Athenian, from whence it was
styled the Metonic Cycle; till afterwards it
changed its name, being either from its great usefulness in
ascertaining the moon's age, or else from its being written in
letters of gold, called the Golden Number,- though sometimes,
for the first of these reasons, it is called the Cycle of the Moon.
. 3. The occasion of this Cycle was this : It
it, snTtow 11 ' having been observed that at the end of nineteen
cSemiar"" the vears tne moon returned to have her changes on
the same days of the solar year and month
whereon they happened nineteen years before ; it was thought
that by the use of a cycle, consisting of nineteen numbers,
the time of the new moons every year might be found out,
without the help of astronomical tables, after this manner :
viz. they observed on what day of each calendar month the
new moon fell in each year of the cycle, and to the said days
10 See the four tot tablet in the Book of Common Prayer.
PART I.]
OF THE TABLES AND RULES.
43
they set respectively the number of the said year. And after
this method they went through all the nineteen years of the
cycle, as may be seen in the calendar of most Common
Prayer Books printed before the year 1752.
. 4. And by this method the new moon could ^ now order .
be found with accuracy enough at the time of ed to be left out
the Nicene Council, forasmuch as the Golden fthecalendar -
Number did then shew the day (i. e. the Nuchthemeron) upon
which the new moon fell out. And hereupon is founded the
rule of the Nicene Council for finding Easter, as has been al-
ready shewed. But here it is to be observed, that the cycle
of the moon is less than nineteen Julian years, by one hour,
twenty-seven minutes, and almost thirty-
two seconds : whence it comes to pass, that
although the new moons fall again upon
the same days as they did nineteen years
before, yet they fall not on the same hour
of the day, or Nuchthemeron, but one hour,
twenty-seven minutes, and almost thirty-
two seconds sooner. And this difference
arising in about three hundred and twelve
years to a whole day ; it must follow that
the new moon, after every three hundred
and twelve years, would fall a whole day (or
Nuchthemeron) sooner. So that for this
reason the new moons were found to fall
about four days and a half sooner now
than the Golden Numbers indicated. And
though this might have been rectified for
the present, by shifting the Golden Numbers
to the days on which the astronomical new
moons now happen ; yet it has been or-
dered by the late Act for correcting the
Calendar, that the column of Golden
Numbers, as they were prefixed to the respective days of all
the months in the calendar, shall be left out in all future
editions of the Book of Common Prayer. And accordingly
the Golden Numbers have now no place in the calendar but
against the twenty-first of March and the eighteenth of
April,* and some of the intermediate days, where they stand
The twenty-first of March and theeighteenth of April are properly the paschal limits,
because the full moon by which Easter is governed must not fall before the former or
The Paschal Limits
answering the Gold-
en Numbers, accord-
ing to the new ac-
count.
Golden
The Paschal
Numb.
Limits.
1
April 13.
2
April 2.
3
March 22.
4
April 10.
5
March 30.
6
April 18.
7
April 7.
8
March 27.
9
April 15.
10
April 4.
11
March 24.
12
April 12.
13
April 1.
14
March 21.
15
16
April 9.
March 29.
17
April 17.
18
April 6.
19
March 26.
44 OF THE TABLES AND RULES. [CHAP. i.
only as the paschal terms, (for a limited time, 11 ) shewing the
days of the full moons, by which Easter is to be governed
through all the several years of the moon's cycle ; as is ex-
pressed in the table annexed.
TO find the ^* ^ shall a.dd no more on this head, than
Golden Number to shew how we may find the Golden Number
of any year. f Qf aQ y y ear> ^nd ^ s j g (J one by adding One"
to the given year of Christ, and then dividing the sum by
nineteen. If after the division nothing remains over, then
the Golden Number is nineteen ; but if any number remains
over, then the said remaindq^is the Golden Number for that
year. For instance, I would know the Golden Number for
the year 1 758, which by this method I find to be 11; for
1758 and 1 (i. e. 1759) being divided by 19, there will re-
main 1 1 . And thus much for the cycle of the moon.
SECT. IV. Of the Epacts.
THE Lunar Year consists of twelve lunar
h?wconut e <!d. months, i. e. of twelve months, consisting of
about twenty-nine days and a half each. In
which space of time the moon returns to her conjunction
with the sun ; that is, from one new moon to the next new
moon are very near twenty-nine days and a half. But, to
avoid fractions, the computists allow thirty days to one moon,
and twenty-nine to another : so that in twelve moons six are
computed to have thirty days each, and the other six but
twenty-nine days each. Thus beginning the year with March,
(for that was the ancient custom,) they allowed thirty days
for the moon in March, and twenty-nine for that in April ;
and thirty again for May, and twenty-nine for June, &c.
according to the old verses :
Impar luna part, parfet in impart tnense ;
In quo complehir mensi lunatio detur.
For the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh months,
which are called impares menses, or unequal months, have
their moons according to computation of thirty days each,
which are therefore called pares tunee, or equal moons ; but
after the latter day : so that March the twenty-second is the earliest day, and April the
twenty -fifth (which, if the eighteenth should be full moon and a Sunday, will be the
Sunday following) the latest day upon which Easter can fall. And upon this is framed
the Table of the movable featti according to the teveral dayi thai JSatter can poittbly
fall a i on.
" Till the year 1899 inclusive. " The reason of adding one is, because the sera of
Christ began in the second year of the cycle.
PART i.] OF THE TABLES AND RULES. 45
the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth months,
which are called pares menses, or equal months, have their
moons but twenty-nine days each, which are called impares
lunce, or unequal moons.
. 2. Now these twelve months of thirty and
twenty-nine days alternate, making up but three ^t
hundred and fifty-four days in all ; the whole lunar
year must consequently be eleven days shorter than the solar
year, which consists of three hundred and sixty-five days. So
that supposing the new moon to be on the first day of March
in any year ; in the next year the new moon will happen
eleven days before the first of March, viz. on February
eighteen. Therefore, to know the age of the moon on the
first of March that year, we add an Epact, i. e. an intercalar
number of eleven days ; the lunar month being that year
eleven days before the solar. Then again, at the end of the
next year, the new moon will fall eleven days sooner than it
did at the end of the foregoing year, viz. on February the
seventh ; for which reason we add eleven days more for the
Epact of the next year, which makes it twenty-two. The
year after this the moon will again fall short of the time
whereon it happened in the foregoing year eleven days more ;
which being added to twenty-two, the Epact of the year past,
the whole will make thirty-three, that is, one \vhole moon and
three days over ; so that in that year we compute thirteen
moons, viz. twelve common moons of thirty and twenty-nine
days alternate, and an intercalar one of thirty days ; and take
the odd three days for the Epact of the next year, and then
proceed in the same manner again, by adding eleven at the
end of every year : always observing, when the number rises
above thirty, to add an intercalar moon to that year, and to
retain the remaining number for the Epact of the next.
. 3. Thus have we nineteen Epacts, an- How the Epactg
swering to the Golden Numbers, and following answer to the
one another in course, by the adding of eleven G lden Number -
days every year in the following manner; 11. 22. 33. 14. 25.
36. 17. 28. 39. 20. 31. 12. 23. 34. 15. 26. 37. 18. 29. In
which cycle of Epacts, as I have noted them in the numbers
33. 36. 39. 31. 34. 37. the figures that have a dot or tittle
over them are not put as belonging to the Epact ; but only
denote that in those years there is an intercalar or thirteenth
46
OF THE TABLES AND RULES.
[CHAP. i.
A Table of Epacts.
Golden
Old
New
Numb.
Style.
Style.
1
11
2
22
11
3
8
22
4
14
3
5
25
14
6
6
25
7
17
6
8
28
17
9
9
28
10
20
9
11
1
20
12
12
1
13
23
12
14
4
23
15
15
4
16
26
15
17
7
26
18
18
7
19
29
18
How to find the
Epsct.
month of thirty days added to the year
before ; but the Epacts for those years are
3. 6. 9. 1. 4. 7. And after the Epact of
29, (which makes the last intercalar month,)
the cycle begins again at 11. But this is so
only in the Julian account ; for according to
the new reckoning, though the years of the
Golden Number agree, the Epacts are dif-
ferent ; as may be seen by the adjoining
table, in which both are exhibited in one
view.
. 4. The readiest way to
find the Julian Epact is by
the Golden Number; for if
the Golden Number be 3, or a number to
be divided by 3, the Epact is the same. If
it be any other number, as 4, 5, 7, or 8,
consider how many numbers it is more than
the last number to be divided by 3, and
add so many times 11 to it, casting away 30 as often as there
is occasion, and it gives the Epact. And the Julian Epact
being known, it is easy from thence to find the Epact accord-
ing to the New Style : namely, if the Julian Epact be greater
than 11, subtract 11 from it; if less than 11, add 30 to it,
and from that sum subtract 11, and the remainder will be the
Epact required. Or in still fewer words, the difference of the
Epacts of the Old Style from the New is equal to the number
of days taken away from the Old.
The ue of the ** By the Epact we discover the true as-
Epact to find the tronomical moons very near, i. e. within a day
over or under, which may be sufficient for com-
mon use, and no cycle can be found nearer. The method of
doing which is this : if we would know how old the moon is
on any day of a month, we must add unto that day the Epact,
and as many days more as there are months from March to
that month inclusive ; u which if it be less than 30, shews
the moon''s age ; if it be greater, subtract 30 from it, and the
age of the moon remaineth ; i. e. whatever number remains
after the whole has been divided by 30, so many days old is
14 The reason of which IB, because the Epact increnieth every year eleven days,
which being almost one day for every month, therefore we add the number of the month
from March inclusive. But this is to be understood only of the months that follow
March, and not those that go before it.
PART I.] OF THE TABLES AND RULES. 47
the moon : if nothing remains, the moon changes that day.
Thus for instance, if we would know what the age of the
moon will be the second of November in the year 1758, we
must inquire after this manner : the Epact for that year is 20 ;
to 20 therefore we must add 2, the day of the month, and
nine more, the number of the month inclusive from March ;
which three numbers being added together, make up the
number 31 ; from which if we subtract 30 (the moon having
so many days in November, that being an unequal month)
there will remain 1, which will appear to be the age of the
moon on that day.
. 6. The reason why the Epacts shew the
moon's age truer than the Golden Number did, 2*2SS5SU
i i /~i i i "KT i i rt T snew me moon t>
is because the Golden Number being affixed to age truer than
the calendar could not be removed to other Number. en
days than those against which they stood, unless
by public authority. But the Epacts not being so affixed,
have been changed from time to time by the computists, as
they saw occasion to make such alterations, in order to make
their computations agreeable to the course of the moon in the
heavens. For though in the space of nineteen years the
moon returns to have her conjunction with the sun on the
same days ; yet those conjunctions fall out about an hour and
a half earlier in the succeeding nineteen years than they did
in the foregoing ; which, as has been calculated, makes a whole
day's difference in a little more than three hundred and twelve
years. Therefore the computists have once in a little more
than that time changed the old course of the Epacts, and
substituted another in its room : to which cause it is owing
that they still notify the new moons to us according to the
real conjunction of the luminaries in the heavens, and have
not failed us, as the Golden Numbers have done.
SECT. V. Of the Cycle of the Dominical Letters, commonly
called the Cycle of the Sun.
THE Cycle of the Sun is very improperly so The Cycle of the
called, since it relates not to the course of the sun improperly
Sun, but to the course of the Dominical or Sun- sc
day letter, and ought therefore to be called the Cycle of the
Sunday Letter.
. 2. The use of the cycle arises from the
custom of assigning in the calendar to each day The yci nhe
of the week one of the first seven letters of the
48 OF THE TABLES AND RULES. ICHAP. i.
alphabet : A being always affixed to January the first, what-
ever day of the week it be ; B to January the second, C to
January the third, and so in order, G to January the seventh.
After which the same letters are repeated again : A being af-
fixed to January the eighth, and so on. According to this
method, there being fifty-two weeks in a year, the said letters
are repeated fifty-two times in the calendar. And were there
just fifty-two weeks, the letter G would belong to the last
day of the year, as the letter A does to the first ; and conse-
quently that letter which was at first constituted the Sunday
letter (and the same is to be understood of the other days of
the week) would always have been so ; and there would have
been no change of the Sunday letter. But one year consist-
ing of fifty-two weeks and an odd day over ; hence it comes to
pass that the letter A belongs to the last, as well as to the first
day of every year. For although every leap-year consists of
three hundred and sixty-six days, i. e. of two days over fifty-
two weeks, yet it is not usual to add a letter more, viz. B, at
the end of the year ; but instead thereof to repeat the letter
C, which stands against February the twenty-eighth, and
affix it again to the intercalated day, February the twenty-
ninth. 15 By which means the said seven letters of the alphabet
remain affixed to the same days of a leap-year as of a com-
mon year, through all the whole calendar both before and
after. The letter A then thus always belonging to the last day
of the old year, and first of the new, it thence comes to pass,
that there is a change made as to the Sunday letter in a
18 backward order ; i. e. supposing G to be the Sunday letter
one year, F will be so the next, and so on.
S. 3. Now were there but this single change,
A single change 0*1 1.1 u J iJU uru
of the Sunday Sunday would be denoted by each ot the seven
nio'nye'ar^anTa ' etters every seven years, and so the cycle of the
double one in Sunday letter would consist of no more than
seven years. But now there being in every
fourth or leap-year two days above fifty-two weeks ; hence it
comes to pass that there is every such year a double change
made as to the Sunday letter. For as the odd single day
above fifty-two weeks in a common year, makes the first
11 In the common almanack* the letter F ii net against the twenty-fourth and twenty-
fifth, the twenty-fourth having been formerly accounted the intercalary day : but our
Church at present teems to make the twenty -ninth of February the intercalated day, M
shall be shewed hereafter, when I treat of the time of keeping St. Matthias's day.
M Bede expressed the retrograde order of the Dominical Letter in this verse:
Q randia F rendet E quut, 1) urn C emit B elli^er A arma.
PART I.]
OF THE TABLES AND RULES.
49
Sunday in January to shift from that which was the Sunday
letter in the foregoing year, to the next letter to it in a back-
ward order ; so a day being intercalated every leap-year at the
end of February, and the letter C being affixed to the twenty-
ninth, as well as to the twenty-eighth day of that month, does
also make the first Sunday in March to shift from that which
was the Sunday letter in February, to the next letter to it in
a retrograde order. So that if in a leap-year F be the Sunday
letter for January and February, E will be the Sunday letter
for all the rest of the year, and D for the year following. By
reason of which double change in every fourth _
., .i_ . .i_ i P Why the cycle
or leap-year, it comes to pass that the cycle of consists of
the Sunday letter consists of four times seven t ^ r n s ty ~ eight
years, i. e. it does not proceed in the same
course it did before, till after twenty-eight years : but after
that number of years, its course or
order is the same as it was before.
4. To find out the Ho w to find the
Sunday letter for any year Dominical
of the Julian cycle, we Letter -
must do thus : to the year of our Lord
we must add 9, (for the aera of Christ
began in the tenth year of the cycle,)
and then divide the sum by 28. If
any of the dividend remains, the said
remainder shews the year of the cycle
sought ; if nothing remains of the
dividend, then it is the last or twenty-
eighth year of the cycle. And the
Dominical Letter according to the
New Style is at present, and will be
for some years to come, the third in
a backward order of the letters from
the Julian : 17 as may be seen by the
annexed table of the Julian cycle of
the Sun, and of the corresponding
Sunday letters in the new account.
For it is to be observed with respect
to these two tables or cycles, that the
former or Julian table would serve for
. ever , but that the latter will serve
A TABLE of the Cycle of
the Sun.
1
Year of
Julian
Domi-
Year of
Domin.
Letters
the
nical
our
New
Cycle.
Letters.
Lord.
Style.
1
GF
1756
DC
2
E
1757
B
3
D
1758
A
4
C
1759
G
5
B A
1760
FE
6
G
1761
D
7
F
1762
C
8
E
1763
B
9
DC
1764
A G
10
B
1765
F
11
A
1766
E
12
G
1767
D
IS
FE
1768
CB
14
D
1769
A
15
C
1770
G
16
B
1771
F
17
A G
1772
ED
18
F
1773
C
19
E
1774
B
20
D
1775
A
21
CB
1776
GF
22
A
1777
E
23
G
1778
D
24
F
1779
C
25
ED
1780
B A
26
C
1781
G
27
B
1782
F
28
A
1783
E
17 Till the year 1800, when it will be the second.
E
50
OF THE TABLES AND RULES.
[CUAP. i.
only for the present century.- 1 * to explain the reason of this
we must take notice again, that as the Julian solar year has
been found to be too long by about three quarters of an hour
in four years, or a whole day in about one hundred and thirty-
three years, or three days in four hundred years ; it hath been
contrived to suppress three days in every four hundred years ;
which is ordered to be done by making only those hundredth
years of our Lord, which may be divided into even hundreds
by 4, to be bissextile or leap years ; and all other hundredth
years which cannot be so divided, (which are also leap-years
in the Julian account,) to be deemed common years. In con-
sequence of which the year of our Lord 1800, not being
divisible into even hundreds by 4, will be a common year
with only one Sunday letter ; and as the like will happen
three times in every four hundred years, it will require a table
of four hundred years to shew all the changes of the Dominical
Letters that can happen according to the new account. 1 '
A GENERAL TABLE,
AG
F.B.D.
C B
A.O.F.
ED
C.B.A.
F
E. O.C.
B A
O.P. E.
D C
B.A.G.
F E
D. C.B.
4
|
1612
40
68
16
44
72
20
48
76
24
52
80
28
56
84
32
60
88
36
64
92
1704
j
1708
36
64
12
40
68
16
44
72
20
48
76
24
52
80
28
56
84
32
60
88
'{
1804
32
60
8
36
64
12
40
68
16
44
7>
20
48
76
24
52
80
28
56
84
t
28
56
1904
32
60
8
36
64
IS
40
68
16
44
72
20
48
76
24
52
80
>.,,, i
4
g
Shewing, by inspec-
tion, all the DOMIN-
ICAL LETTERS that
have been since the
correction of the
Julian Calendar by
pope Gregory XIII.,
which took place
from the ides of Oct.
1582, or that can
occur in any future
times.
" See a rule to find the Sunday letter New Style, both for this century and the nest,
in the table for finding Easter-day till 1899. The editors have been favoured with
a copy of such a table, drawn up by W. Rivet, of the Inner Temple, Esq., which they
have printed, believing it will be acceptable to the reader.
PABT I.] OF THE TABLES AND RULES. 51
By the Julian calendar the Dominical Letters for the year
1580 were C B, for 1581 A, and for 1582 (the second year
after bissextile) the letter G. Consequently as October in that
year began on a Monday, the fourth of that month must be
Thursday ; and the next natural day, which was reckoned the
fifteenth (ten days being then dropped) was Friday ; the six-
teenth nominal day of course was Saturday, and Sunday falling
on the seventeenth, the Dominical Letter then changed to C :
and from that day all subsequent Dominical Letters take their
revolutions.
On this plan the foregoing table was formed ; wherein ob-
serve, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900, are not particularly ex-
pressed, they being accounted as common years, that have
but one Dominical Letter each ; viz. c for 1700, E for 1800,
and G for 1900. All the years expressed in the table are bis-
sextile, or leap-years, and have two Dominical Letters placed
at the head of their respective columns ; as for the years 1600,
1628, 1656, and 1684, the Dominical Letters were B A, and
so of the rest.
The letters for the first, second, and third years after every
bissextile, are the three single letters placed under the dou-
ble letters, in the same column with the bissextile they imme-
diately follow. For example, as the Dominical Letters for
1600 were B A, so the Dominical Letter for 1601 was G, for
1602 F, and for 1603 E. So for 1796 the Dominical Letters
will be C B; consequently 1797, 1798, and 1799, must have
A, G, and P : and the letter for 1800 (which is to be account-
ed a common year) will be E ; therefore 1801, 1802, and 1803,
must have the subsequent letters D, c, and B ; and then 1804,
being bissextile, will come under the letters A G : and from
thence every fourth year will be leap-year to 1896 inclusive.
The Dominical Letters of each century expressed in the ta-
ble, will be the same again after a revolution of four hundred
years ; wherefore, if you divide any given hundredth year by
4, and nothing remains, it is a bissextile hundred ; and the
whole century from thence will have the same letters through-
out as the seventeenth century, beginning from 1600. If one
remains, it will be governed by the eighteenth century ; if two,
by the nineteenth ; and if three, by the twentieth century,
beginning from 1900.
EXAMPLES.
If the Dominical Letter for 2484 be required, divide 24 by
2
52 OF THE TABLES AND RULES. [CHAP. i.
4, and nothing will remain ; therefore look in the seventeenth
century for 1684, and you will find it under B A, which must
be the Dominical Letters for the year required.
So for the year 8562 : let 85 be divided by 4, and the re-
mainder will be 1 ; wherefore the Dominical Letter may be
found in the eighteenth century, being the same as for 1762,
viz. c.
If it be required to know the Dominical Letter for the year
5400 ; divide 54 by 4, and the remainder will be 2, denoting
it to be the second after a bissextile hundred, and consequent-
ly the given year must have the same letter as the year 1800;
from which the nineteenth century begins, viz. B, the fourth
single letter after the bissextile year 1796.
Lastly, if the Dominical Letter for 3503 be required ; as
35 divided by 4 leaves 3, it will be the same with 1903, which
will be found to be D by counting from 1896, the bissextile
next preceding it ; as 1900 will be a common year.
And since, after dividing the hundreds in any given year of
our Lord by 4, there will remain either 0, 1,2, or 3, so any
question of this kind will be resolved by finding in the table
the Sunday Letter or Letters of the corresponding year in
such of the four centuries, as is analogous to that of the ques-
tion proposed.
PART II.
OF THE CALENDAR.
THE INTRODUCTION.
I. HAVING said what I thought requisite in order to ex-
plain the Tables and Rules before and after the Calendar, I
The column* of 8na ^ now proceed to treat, in as little compass
days of the as I can, of the Calendar itself. It consists of
k ' several columns , concerning the first of which,
as it only shews the days of the month in their numerical
order, I need say nothing; and of the second, which contains
the letters of the alphabet affixed to the several days of every
week, I have already said as much in the former part of this
chapter as was necessary to shew the use and design of their
being placed here.
PAKT IT.] OF THE CALENDAR. 53
II. The third column (as printed in the larger
Common Prayer Books) has the Calends, ^fll ot
Nones, and Ides, which was the method of
computation used by the old Romans and primitive Christians,
instead of the days of the month, and is still useful to those
who read either ecclesiastical or profane history. But this
way of computation being now grown into disuse ; and this
column being also omitted in most small editions of the
Common Prayer Book, (though without authority,) there is
no need that I should enter into the particulars of it.
III. Neither is there occasion that I should
say any thing here concerning the four last co- The i e c s 1 ^ ns of
lumns of the calendar, which contain the Course
of Lessons for morning and evening prayer for ordinary days
throughout the year ; since the course of lessons both for
ordinary days and Sundays, &c. will come under consider-
ation in a more proper place hereafter.
IV. So that nothing remains to be treated of
here, but the Column of Holy-days,- and as T ^jgj of
many of these too as are observed by the Church
of England, I shall speak to in the fifth chapter. But then
as to the Popish Holy-days retained in our calendar, I shall
have no fairer opportunity of treating of them than in this
Elace. And therefore, since some small account of these
as been desired by some persons, I shall here insert it, to
gratify their curiosity.
Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in general.
THE reasons why the names of these Saints-days
i TT i i j i ii i j The reasons why
and Holy-days were resumed into the calendar the popish holy-
are various. Some of them being retained upon ? a y s are retained
_ . ,., 11 m our calendar.
account of our Courts of Justice, which usually
make their returns on these days, or else upon the days be-
fore or after them, which are called in the writs, Vigil. Fest.
or Crast., as in Vigil. Martin; Fest. Martin ; Crast. Martin;
and the like. Others are probably kept in the calendar for
the sake of such tradesmen, handicraftsmen, and others, as
are wont to celebrate the memory of their tutelar Saints ; as
the Welshmen do of St. David, the Shoemakers of St. Cris-
pin, &c. And again, churches being in several places dedi-
cated to some or other of these Saints, it has been the usual
custom in such places to have Wakes or Fairs kept upon
54 OF THE CALENDAR. [CHAP. i.
those days ; so that the people would probably be displeased,
if, either in this, or the former case, their favourite Saint's
name should be left out of the calendar. Besides, the his-
tories which were writ before the Reformation do frequently
speak of transactions happening upon such a holy-day, or
about such a time, without mentioning the month ; relating
one thing to be done at Lammas-tide, and another about
Martinmas, &c., so that were these names quite left out of
the calendar, we might be at a loss to know when several of
these transactions happened. But for this and the foregoing
reasons our second reformers under queen Elizabeth (though
all those days had been omitted in both books of king Edward
VI. excepting St. George's Day, Lammas Day, St. Laurence,
and St. Clement, which were in his second book) thought
convenient to restore the names of them to the calendar,
though not with any regard of being kept holy
But h n oiy kept ty the Church. For this they thought prudent
to forbid, as well upon the account of the great
inconveniency brought into the Church in the times of Popery,
by the observation of such a number of holy-days, to the
great prejudice of labouring and trading men ; as by reason
that many of those Saints they then commemorated were
oftentimes men of none of the best characters. Besides, the
history of these Saints, and the accounts they gave of the
other holy-days, were frequently found to be feigned and
fabulous. For which reason, I suppose, the generality of my
readers would excuse my giving them or myself any further
trouble upon this head : but being sensible that there are
some people who are particularly desirous of this sort of in-
formation, I shall for their sakes subjoin a short account of
every one of these holy-days as they lie in their order ; but
must first bespeak my reader not to think that I endeavour
to impose all these stories upon him as truths ; but to remem-
ber that I have already given him warning that a great part
of the account will be feigned and fabulous. And therefore
I presume he will excuse my burdening him with testi-
monies; since though I could bring testimonies for every
thing I shall say, yet I cannot promise that they will be con-
vincing. But, however, I promise to invent nothing of my
own, nor to set down any thing but what some or other of the
blind Romanists superstitiously believe.
PAKT ii.] OF THE CALENDAR. 55
SECT. I. OftJie Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in January.
Luoian (to whose memory the eighth day of ,,
i i 11* i\ i i January o.
this month was dedicated) is said by some to have Lucian,confess-
been a disciple of St. Peter, and to have been or and martyr "
sent by him with St. Dennys into France, where, for preach-
ing the Gospel, he suffered martyrdom. Though others relate
that he was a learned presbyter of Antioch, well versed in the
Hebrew tongue, taking a great deal of pains in comparing and
amending the copies of the Bible. Being long exercised in
the sacred discipline, he was brought to the city of the Nico-
medians, when the emperor Galerius Maximianus was there ;
and having recited an apology for the Christian religion which
he had composed, before the governor of the city, he was cast
into prison ; and having endured incredible tortures, was put
to death. 20
. 2. Hilary, bishop of Poictiers in France, 13 Hilary
(commemorated on the thirteenth of this month,) bishop ana con-
was a great champion of the catholic doctrine fe
against the Arians ; for which he was persecuted by their par-
ty, and banished into Phrygia about the year 356, where,
after much pains taken in the controversy, and many troubles
underwent, he died about the year 367.
. 3. Prisca, a Roman lady, commemorated 18 p risc , Ro _
on the eighteenth, was early converted to Chris- man virgin and
tianity ; but refusing to abjure her religion, and m
to offer sacrifices when she was commanded, was horribly tor-
tured, and afterwards beheaded under the emperor Claudius,
A.D. 47.
. 4. Fabian was bishop of Rome about four- 20 Faoian)
teen years, viz. from A. D. 239 to 253, and suf- Hshop and'mar-
fered martyrdom under the emperor Decius.
. 5. Agnes, a young Roman lady of a noble 21> Agnes ,
family, suffered martyrdom in the tenth general Roman virgin
J . j ,1 J Tk- i . * Tk an< i martyr.
persecution under the emperor Diocletian, A. i).
306. She was by the wicked cruelty of the judge condemned
to be debauched in a public stew before her execution ; but
was miraculously preserved by lightning and thunder from
heaven. She underwent her persecution with wonderful rea-
diness, and though the executioner hacked and hewed her
body most unmercifully with the sword, yet she bore it with
Euseb. Histor. Eccl. 1. ix. c. 6, p. 351, C.
56 OF THE CALENDAR. [CHAP. x.
incredible constancy, singing hymns all the time, though she
was then no more than thirteen or fourteen years old.
About eight days after her execution, her parents going to
lament and pray at her tomb, where they continued watching
all night, it is reported that there appeared unto them a vision
of angels, arrayed with glittering and glorious garments;
among whom they saw their own daughter appareled after the
Why painted same manner, and a lamb standing by her as
with a iamb by white as snow ; (which is the reason why the
painters picture her with a lamb by her side.)
Ever after which time the Roman ladies went every year (as
they still do) to offer and present her on this day the two best
and purest white lambs they could procure. These they offered
at St. Agnes's altar, (as they call it,) and from thence the pope
gives orders to have them put into the choicest pasture about
the city, till the time of sheep-shearing come ; at which sea-
son they are clipt, and the wool is hallowed, whereof a fine
white cloth is spun and woven, and consecrated every year by
The o .inai the pope himself, for the palls which he useth to
of archbishops' send to every archbishop; and which till they
have purchased at a most extravagant price, they
cannot exercise any metropolitical jurisdiction.
22 Vincent, a 6. Vincent, a deacon of the church in
deacon of Spain Spain, was born at Oscard, now Huezza, a town
***' in Arragon. He was instructed in divinity by
Valerius, bishop of Saragossa ; but, by reason of an impedi-
ment in his speech, never took upon him the office of preach-
ing. He suffered martyrdom in the Diocletian persecution
about the year 303, being laid all along upon burning coals,
and, after his body was broiled there, thrown upon heaps of
broken tiles.
SECT. II. Of the Bomish Saints-days and Holy-days in February.
February 3 Blassius was bishop of Sebaste in Armenia,
Hiassiun, bishop reported to have been a man of great miracles
and martyr. &n( j p Ower) p ut to { ] ea th in the same city by
Agricolaus the president, under Diocletian the emperor, in
the year 289. His name is not put down in some editions
of the Common Prayer Book, but it occurs in the most
authentic.
s. Agatha, a sici- 2 - ^ffolha, & virgin honourably born in
nn virgin and Sicily, suffered martyrdom under Decius the
emperor at Catanea. Being very beautiful,
PART ii.] OF THE CALENDAR, 57
Quintianus, the praetor or governor of the province, was
enamoured with her : but not being able to work his ill de-
sign upon her, ordered her to be scourged, and then im-
prisoned, for not worshipping the heathen gods. After which,
she, still persisting constant in the faith, was put upon the
rack, burnt with hot irons, and had her breast cut off. And
then being remanded back to prison, she had several divine
comforts afforded her : but the praetor sending for her again,
being half-dead, she prayed to God to receive her soul; with
which petition she immediately expired ; it being the fifth of
February, A. D. 253.
.3. Valentine was an ancient presbyter of 14 valentine
the Church ; he suffered martyrdom under Clau- bishop and
dius at Rome. Being delivered into the custody ra
of one Asterius, he wrought a miracle upon his daughter ;
whom, being blind, he restored to sight ; by which means he
converted the whole family to Christianity, who all of them
afterwards suffered for their religion. Valentine, after a
year's imprisonment at Rome, was beheaded in the Flaminian-
way about the year 271, and was enrolled among the martyrs
of the Church ; his day being established before the times of
Gregory the Great. He was a man of most admirable parts,
and so famous for his love and charity, that the The original of
custom of choosing Valentines upon his festival choosing Vaien-
(vvhich is still practised) took its rise from thence. tj
SECT. III. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in March.
David, to whose memory the first of this March j David
month was formerly dedicated, was descended archbishop of
from the royal family of the Britons, being uncle Menevaa -
to the great king Arthur, and son of Xantus prince of Wales,
by one Melearia, a nun. He was a man very learned and
eloquent, and of incredible austerity in his life and conversa-
tion. By his diligence Pelagianism was quite rooted out,
and many earnest professors of the same converted unto the
truth. He was made bishop of Caerleon in Wales, which see
he afterwards removed to Menevia ; from him ever since
called St. David's. He sat long, viz. sixty-five years, and
(having built twelve monasteries in the country thereabouts)
died in the year 642 : being, as Bale writes out of the British
histories, a hundred and forty-six years old. He was buried
in his own cathedral church, and canonized by Pope Calixtus
58 OF THE CALENDAR. [CHAP, i
11. about five hundred years afterwards. Many things are
reported of him incredible ; as that his death was foretold
thirty years beforehand ; and that he was always attended by
angels, who kept him company ; that he bestowed upon the
waters of Bath that extraordinary heat they have ; and that
whilst he was once preaching to a great multitude of people
at Brony, the ground swelled under his feet into a little hill ;
with several other such stories not worth rehearsing.
2. Cedde, or ^- Cedde was, in the absence of Wilfride,
chad, bishop of archbishop of York, who was gone to Paris for
LichlK-l'l . j i c f j
consecration, and gave no hopes 01 a speedy
return, enforced by Egfrid king of Northumberland to accept
of that see. But Wilfride being returned, Cedde was per-
suaded by Theodorus, archbishop of Canterbury, to resign the
see to him : after which for some time he lived a monastical
life at Leastingeag ; till, by the means of the same Theodorus,
he was made bishop of Lichfield, under Wolfhere, king of
Mercia, whom he is said to have converted. He died March
2, A. D. 672.
7 Perpetua,a ^- Pwpeiua was a lady of quality, who
Mauritanian suffered martyrdom in Mauritania, under the
emperor Severus, about the year 205. She is
often very honourably mentioned by Tertullian and St.
Austin ; the last of whom lets us know that the day of her
martyrdom was settled into a holy-day in his time; and re-
marks of her, that she gave suck to a young child at the time
of her sufferings.
8. 4. Gregory the Great, who stands next in
12. Gregory the A , 3 , , y y j j / i i
Great, bishop of the calendar, was descended from noble parents.
fo!Sr andCon ^ e Vei 7 ear ty addicted himself to study and
piety, giving all his estate to the building and
maintaining of religious houses. He was consecrated pope
about the year 590, but vigorously opposed the title of uni-
versal bishop (which the bishops of Constantinople did then,
and the bishops of Home do now assume) as blasphemous,
antichristian, and diabolical. Among other his glorious and
Christian deeds, his memory was annually celebrated here in
England, for his devout charity to our nation, in sending
Austin the monk, with forty other missionaries, to convert the
Saxons, (who had testified their desire to embrace Christi-
anity,) which in a short time they happily achieved. Having
held the popedom fourteen years, he died about the year
PAET ii.] OF THE CALENDAR. 59
604, leaving many learned books behind him, which are still
extant.
. 5. Edward was descended from the West 18 Edward
Saxon kings, and the son of king Edgar, who king of the West
first reduced the heptarchy into one kingdom : Saxons -
after whose death, in the year 975, this Edward succeeded to
the crown at twelve years of age, but did not enjoy it above
two or three years. For paying a visit to Elfride his mother-
in-law at Corfe-castle, in Dorsetshire, he was by her order
stabbed in the back, (whilst he was drinking a cup of wine,)
to make way for her son Etheldred, his half-brother. His
favour to the monks made his barbarous murder to be esteemed
a martyrdom ; the day of which was appointed to be kept
festival by pope Innocent IV. A. D. 1245.
. 6. Benedict was born in Norcia, a town in
Italy, of an honourable family. Being much 21> ^ot dkt '
given to devotion, he set up an order of monks,
which bears his name, about the year 529. He was very re-
markable for his mortification; and the monks of his own
order relate, that he would often roll himself in a heap of
briers to check any carnal desires that he found to arise in
himself. St. Gregory 21 tells us of a very famous miracle
wrought upon his account, viz. That the Goths, when they
invaded Italy, came to burn his cell; and being set on fire, it
burnt round him in a circle, not doing him the least hurt : at
which the Goths being enraged, threw him into a hot oven,
stopping it up close ; but coming the next day, they found him
safe, neither his flesh scorched, nor his clothes singed. He
died on the twenty-first of March, A. D. 542.
SECT. IV. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in April.
Richard, surnamed de Wiche, from a place April 3. Richard
so called in Worcestershire, where he was born, bishop of CM-
was brought up at the universities of Oxford cl
and Paris. Being come to man's estate, he travelled to Bono-
nia ; where having studied the canon law seven years, he be-
came public reader of the same. Being returned home, he
was, in the vacancy of the see of Chichester, chosen bishop
by that chapter ; which the king opposing, (he having nomin-
ated another,) Richard appealed to Rome, and had his election
confirmed by the pope, who consecrated him also at Lyons,
9 Greg. Dial. lib. iii.
60 OF THE CALENDAR. [CHAP. i.
in the year 1245. He was very much reverenced for his
great learning and diligent preaching, but especially for his
integrity of life and conversation. Strange miracles are told
of him : as that, by his blessing, he increased a single loaf of
bread to satisfy the hunger of three thousand poor people ;
and that in his extreme old age, whilst he was celebrating the
eucharist, he fell down with the chalice in his hand, but the
wine was miraculously preserved from falling to the ground.
About seven or eight years after his death, he was canonized
for a saint by pope Urban IV. A. D. 1261.
. 2. St. Ambrose was born about the year
bisho rfmian. 340< His father was P r 3e torian praefect of Gaul,
in whose palace St. Ambrose was educated. It
is reported, that in his infancy a swarm of bees settled upon
his cradle ; which was a prognostication, as was supposed, of
his future eloquence. After his father's death, he went with
his mother to Rome, where he studied the laws, practised as
an advocate, and was made governor of Milan and the neigh-
bouring cities. Upon the death of Auxentius, bishop of
Milan, there being a great contest in the election of a new
bishop, this good father, in an excellent speech, exhorted
them to peace and unanimity ; which so moved the affections
of the people, that they immediately forgot the competitors
whom they were so zealous for before, and unanimously de-
clared that they would have their governor for their bishop.
Who, after several endeavours by flight and other artifices to
avoid that burden, was at last compelled to yield to the
importunities of the people, and to be consecrated bishop.
From which time he gave all his money to pious uses, and set-
tled the reversion of his estate upon the Church. He governed
that see with great piety and vigilance for more than twenty
years, and died in the year 396, being about fifty-seven years
old : having first converted St. Augustin to the faith; at whose
baptism he is said miraculously to have composed that divine
hymn, so well known in the Church by the name of Te Dcum.
19. Alphege, * Alphcge was an Englishman of a most
archbishop of holy and austere life, which was the more admir-
ury ' able in him, because he was born of great pa-
rentage, and began that course of life in his younger years.
He was first abbot of Bath, then bishop of Winchester, in the
jear 984, and twelve years afterwards archbishop of Canter-
bury. But in the year 1012, the Danes being disappointed
PABT ii.] OF THE CALENDAR. 61
of a certain tribute which they claimed as due to them, they
fell upon Canterbury, and spoiled and burnt both the city and
church : nine parts in ten of the people they put to the sword ;
and after seven months miserable imprisonment, stoned the
good archbishop to death at Greenwich ; who was thereupon
canonized for a saint and martyr, and had the nineteenth of
April allowed him as his festival.
. 4. St. George, the famous patron of the
English nation, was born in Cappadocia, andsuf- ^eorgefmartyr.
fered for the sake of his religion, A. D. 290, un-
der the emperor Diocletian, (in whose army he had before
been a colonel,) being supposed to have been the person that
pulled down the edict against the Christians, which Diocle-
tian had caused to be affixed upon the church doors. 22 The
legends relate several strange stories of him, which are so
common, they need not here be related : I shall only give a
short account how he came to be so much esteemed of in
England.
When Eobert duke of Normandy, son to Wil- How he came to
liam the Conqueror, was prosecuting his victories i>e patron of the
against the Turks, and laying siege to the famous Enghsh -
city of Antioch, which was like to be relieved by a mighty
army of the Saracens ; St. George appeared with an innumer-
able army coming down from the hills all in white, with a red
cross in his banner, to reinforce the Christians ; which occa-
sioned the infidel army to fly, and the Christians to possess
themselves of the town. This story made St. George extra-
ordinary famous in those times, and to be esteemed a patron,
not only of the English, but of Christianity itself. Not but
that St. George was a considerable saint before this, having
had a church dedicated to him by Justinian the emperor.
SECT. V. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in May.
THE third of this month is celebrated as a fes- May 3 Inven .
tival by the Church of Rome, in memory of the turn of the
Invention of the Cross, which is said to be owing
to this occasion. Helena, the mother of Constantine the
Great, being admonished in a dream to search for the cross
of Christ at. Jerusalem, took a journey thither with that in-
tent : and having employed labourers to dig at Golgotha, after
opening the ground very deep, (for vast heaps of rubbish had
22 See Lactantius de Mortibus Persecutorum.
62 OF THE CALENDAR. [CHAP. i.
purposely been thrown there by the spiteful Jews or hea-
thens,) she found three crosses, which she presently conclud-
ed were the crosses of our Saviour and the two thieves who
were crucified with him. But being at a loss to know which
was the cross of Christ, she ordered them all three to be ap-
plied to a dead person. Two of them, the story says, had no
effect ; but the third raised the carcass to life, which was an
evident sign to Helena, that that was the cross she looked for.
As soon as this was known, every one was for getting a piece
of the cross ; insomuch that in Paulinus's time (who being a
scholar of St. Ambrose, and bishop of Nola, flourished about
the year 420) there was much more of the relics of the cross,
than there was of the original wood. Whereupon that father
says, " it was miraculously increased ; it very kindly afforded
wood to men's importunate desires, without any loss of its
substance."
e st John ^- ^he sixth f this month was anciently
Evang. ante dedicated to the memory of St. John the evan-
gelist's miraculous deliverance from the persecu-
tion of Domitian : to whom being accused as an eminent as-
serter of atheism and impiety, and a public subverter of the
religion of the empire, he was sent for to Rome, where he was
treated with all the cruelty that could be expected from so
bloody and barbarous a prince ; for he was immediately put
into a caldron of boiling oil, or rather oil set on fire, before
the gate called Porta Latina, in the presence of the senate.
But his Master and Lord, who favoured him when on earth
above all the Apostles, so succoured him here, that he felt no
harm from the most violent rage ; but, as if he had been only
anointed, like the athletae of old, he came out more vigorous
and active than before : the same divine Providence that
secured the three children in the fiery furnace, bringing the
holy man safe out of this, one would think, inevitable destruc-
tion ; and so vouchsafing him the honour of martyrdom, with-
out his enduring the torments of it.
19 Dunstan ^- Dunstan, of whom we are next to speak,
archbishop of was well extracted, being related to king Athel-
Canterbury. gtan Hg wag yery we jj 8 j^U e( J j n mo8t o f the jj.
beral arts, and among the rest in refining metals and forging
them ; which being qualifications much above the genius of
the age he lived in, first gained him the name of a conjurer,
and then of a saint. He was certainly a very honest man,
PART ii.] OF THE CALENDAR. 63
and never feared to reprove vice irtany of the kings of the
West Saxons, of whom he was confessor to four successively.
But the monks (to whom he was a very great friend, applying
all Ris endeavours to enrich them and their monasteries) have
filled his life with several nonsensical stories : such as are, his
making himself a cell at Glastenburg all of iron at his own
forge ; his harp playing of itself, without a hand ; his taking
a she-devil, who tempted him to lewdness under the shape of
a fine lady, by the nose with a pair of red-hot tongs ; and
several other such ridiculous relations not worth repeating.
He was promoted by king Edgar, first to the bishopric of
Worcester, soon after to London, and two years after that to
Canterbury ; where, having sat twenty-seven years, he died
May 19, A. D. 988.
. 4. Augustin was the person we have al- 26 Augugtin(
ready mentioned, as sent by pope Gregory the first archbishop
Great to convert the Saxons, from whence he of Canterbur y-
got the name of the apostle of the English. Whilst he was
over here, he was made archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 596.
He had a contest with the monks of Bangor, about submis-
sion to the see of Rome, who refused any subjection but to
God, and the bishop of Caerleon. Soon after this difference,
Ethelfride, a pagan king of Northumberland, invaded Wales,
and slaughtered a hundred and fifty of these monks, who came
in a quiet manner to mediate a peace : which massacre is by
some writers (but without just grounds) imputed to the in-
stigation of Austin, in revenge for their opposition to him.
After he had sat some time in the see of Canterbury, he de-
ceased the twenty-sixth of May, about the year 610.
. 5. Pede was born at Yarrow, in North-
umberland, A. D. 673, and afterwards well 27> j^f* 1
educated in Greek and Latin studies, in which
he made a proficiency beyond most of his age. He is author
of several learned philosophical and mathematical tracts, as
also of comments upon the Scripture : but his most valuable
piece is his Ecclesiastical History of the Saxons. Being a
monk, he studied in his cell ; where spending more hours, and
to better purpose, than the monks were wont to do, a report
was raised that he never went out of it. However, he would
not leave it for preferment at Rome, which the pope had often
invited him to.
64 OF THE CALENDAR. [CHAP. i.
How be got the His learning and piety gained him the sur-
name of vener- name of Venerable. Though the common story
which goes about that title's being given him,
is this: his scholars having a mind to fix a rhyming title
upon his tombstone, as was the custom in those times, the
poet wrote,
HAC SUNT IN FOSSA,
BED.* OSSA.
Placing the word OSSA at the latter end of the verse for the
rhyme, but not being able to think of any proper epithet that
would stand before it. The monk being tired in this per-
plexity to no purpose, fell asleep ; but when he awaked, he
Ibund his verse filled up by an angelic hand, standing thus in
fair letters upon the tomb :
HAC SUNT IN FOSSA,
BEDJE VENERABILIS OSSA.
SECT. VI. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy -days in June.
Nicomede was scholar to St. Peter, and was
raede, a Roman discovered to be a Christian by his honourably
burying one Felicula, a martyr. He was beat
to death with leaden plummets for the sake of
his religion, in the reign of Domitian.
s. Boniface, bi- 2< Boniface was a Saxon presbyter, bora
shop of Ments, in England, and at first called Winfrid. He was
and martyr. genfc & m j ss i onar y by p O p e Gregory II. into
Germany, where he converted several countries, and from
thence got the name of the apostle of Germany. He was
made bishop of Ments in the year 745. He was one of the
most considerable men of his time, (most ecclesiastical mat-
ters going through his hands, as appears by his letters,) and
was also a great friend and admirer of Bede. Carrying on his
conversions in Frisia, he was killed by the barbarous people
near Utrecht, A. D. 755.
. 3. St. Allan was the first Christian martyr
in this island about the middle of the third
century. He was converted to Christianity by
one Amphialus, a priest of Caerleon in Wales, who, flying
from persecution into England, was hospitably entertained
by St. Alban at Verulam, in Hertfordshire, now called from
PART n.] OF THE CALENDAR. 65
him St. Albans. When, by reason of a strict search made
for Amphialus, St. Alban could entertain him safe no longer,
he dressed him in his own clothes, and by that means gained
him an opportunity of escaping. But this being soon found
out, exposed St. Alban to the fury of the pagans ; who sum-
moning him to do sacrifice to their gods, and he refusing,
they first miserably tormented him, and then put him to
death. The monks have fathered several miracles upon him,
which it is not worth while here to relate.
. 4. Edward king of the West Saxons being
barbarously murdered by his mother-in-law, was of'Edward, a k!ng
first buried at Warham without any solemnity: f the West
i , n .1 -t i T i i i Saxons.
but after three years was carried by duke Al-
ferus to the minister of Shaftesbury, and there interred with
great pomp. To the memory of which the twentieth of June
has been since dedicated.
SECT. VII. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in July.
ABOUT the year 1338 there was a terrible Jul 2 V j gita .
schism in the Church of Rome between two tionof thebiess-
anti-popes, Urban VI. and Clement VIL, the ^ virgin Mary,
first chosen by the Italian, the other by the French faction
among the cardinals. Upon this several great disorders
happened. To avert which for the future, pope Urban in-
stituted a feast to the memory of that famous journey, which
the mother of our Lord took into the mountains of Judaea,
to visit the mother of St. John the Baptist ; that by this
means the intercession of the blessed Virgin might be obtained
for the removal of those evils. The same festival was con-
firmed by the decree of Boniface IX., though it was not
universally observed until the Council of Basil : by decree of
which Council in their forty-third session, upon July 1, 1441,
it was ordered that this holy-day, called the Visitation of the
blessed Virgin Mary, should be celebrated in all Christian
churches, that " she being honoured with this solemnity,
might reconcile her Son by her intercession, who is now
angry for the sins of men ; and that she might grant peace
and unity among the faithful."
. 2. St. Martin was born in Pannonia, and
for some time lived the life of a soldier, but at O f st.Tiartin?
last took orders, and was made bishop of Tours J? ish P mA con -
T, , T ' ,... i . r , ,. lessor.
in .trance. He was very diligent in breaking
p
66 OP THE CALENDAR. [CHAP. I.
down the heathen images and altars, which were standing in
his time. He died in the year 400, after he had sat bishop
twenty-six years. The French had formerly such an esteem
for his memory, that they carried his helmet with them into
their wars, either as an ensign to encourage them to bravery,
or else as a sort of charm to procure them victory. His
feast-day is celebrated on the eleventh of November. The
fourth of this month is dedicated only to the memory of the
translating or removing of his body from the place where it
was buried, to a more noble and magnificent tomb ; which
was performed by Perpetuus, one of his successors in the see
of Tours.
.. _ S. 3. Smithun was first a monk, and after-
15. Swithun, a i c ., f -ii" u
bishop of win- wards a prior, of the convent of Winchester.
Chester, trans- Upon the death of Helinstan bishop of that see,
by the favour of king Ethelwolph, he was pro-
moted to succeed him in that bishopric, A. D. 852, and con-
tinued in it eleven years, to his death. He would not be
buried within the church, as the bishops then generally were,
but in the cemetery, or churchyard. Many miracles being
reported to be done at his grave, there was a chapel built
over it ; and a solemn translation made in honour of him,
which in the popish times was celebrated on the fifteenth
of July.
20 Margaret ^- Margaret was born at Antioch, being
virgin and mar- the daughter of an heathen priest. Olybius,
ioch - president of the East under the Romans, had an
inclination to marry her; but finding she was a Christian,
deferred it till he could persuade her to renounce her re-
ligion. Exit not being able to accomplish his design, he first
Eut her to unmerciful torments, and then beheaded her. She
as the same office among the papists, as Lucina has among
the heathens ; viz. to assist women in labour. Her holy-day
is very ancient, not only in the Roman, but also in the Greek
Church, who celebrate her memory under the name of Marina.
She suffered in the year 278.
22. Saint Mary 5. By the first Common Prayer Book of
Magdalene. ti n g Edward VI., the twenty-second of July
was dedicated to the memory of St. Mary Magdalene.
The Epistle and I n ^c service for the day, Prov. xxxi. 10, to
Gospel. the end, was appointed for the Epistle ; and the
Gospel was taken out of St. Luke vii. 36, to the end. But
PART ii.] OF THE CALENDAR. 67
upon a stricter inquiry, it appearing dubious to our reformers,
as it doth still to many learned men, whether the woman
mentioned in the scripture that was appointed for the Gospel,
were Mary Magdalene or not ; they thought it more proper
to discontinue the festival. However, as I have mentioned
the other .parts of the service, I will also give the reader the
Collect that was appointed, which he will observe was very
apt and suitable to the Gospel.
Merciful Father, give us grace that me never
., ' J -, . , ~ The Collect.
presume to sin through the example of any
creature : but if it shall chance us at any time to offend thy
divine Majesty, that then me may truly repent and lament
the same, after the example of Mary Magdalene, and by a
lively faith obtain remission of all our sins, through the only
merits of thy Son our Saviour Christ. Amen.
. 6. St. j4nn was the mother of the blessed
Virgin Mary and the wife of Joachim her father, mother to tie'
An ancient piece of the sacred genealogy, set wessed Virgin
down formerly by Hippolitus the martyr, is pre- y '
served in Nicephorus. 23 " There were three sisters of Beth-
lehem, daughters of Matthan the priest and Mary his wife,
under the reign of Cleopatra and Casopares king of Persia,
before the reign of Herod, the son of Antipater : the eldest
was Mary, the second was Sobe, the youngest's name was Ann.
The eldest being married in Bethlehem, had for daughter
Salome the midwife : Sobe the second likewise married in
Bethlehem, and was the mother of Elizabeth ; last of all the
third married in Galilee, and brought forth Mary the mother
of Christ."
SECT. VIII. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in August.
THE first day of this month is commonly called
Lammas-day, though in the Roman Church it is Lamrnas'day.
generally known by the name of the feast of St.
Peter in tlie fetters, being the day of the commemoration
of St. Peter's imprisonment. For Eudoxia, the wife of The-
odosius the emperor, having made a journey to Jerusalem,
was there presented with the fetters which St. Peter was
loaded with in prison : which she presented to the pope, who
afterwards laid them up in a church built by Theodosius in
honour of St. Peter. Eudoxia, in the mean time, having ob-
w Niceph. lib. ii. cap. 3, vol. i. p. 136, A.
F 2
68 OF THE CALENDAR. [CHAP. I.
served that the first of August was celebrated in memory of
Augustus Caesar, (who had on that day been saluted Augustus,
and had upon that account given occasion to the changing of
the name of the month from Sextilis to August,) she thought
it not reasonable that a holy-day should be kept in memory
of a heathen prince, which would better become that of a
godly martyr ; and therefore obtained a decree of the em-
peror, that this day for the future should be kept holy in
remembrance of St. Peter's bonds.
The reason of its being called Lammas-day,
some think was a fond conceit the popish people
had, that St. Peter was patron of the Lambs, from our Sa-
viour's words to him, Feed my lambs. Upon which account
they thought the mass of this day very beneficial to make
their lambs thrive. Though Somner's account of it is more
rational and easy, viz. that it is derived from the old Saxon
plapmrr e i- e - Loaf-mass, it having been the custom of the
Saxons to offer on that day an oblation of loaves made of
new wheat, as the first-fruits of their new corn.
.2. The festival of our Lord's transfigura-
ooJof^ur^d. twn m tne mount is very ancient. In the Church
of Rome indeed it is but of late standing, being
instituted by pope Calixtus in the year 1455; but in the
Greek Church it was observed long before.
. 3. The seventh of August was formerly
dedicated to the memory of Afra, a courtezan of
Crete ; who being converted to Christianity by
Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem, suffered martyrdom, and was
commemorated on this day : how it came afterwards to be
dedicated to the name of Jesus, I do not find.
10 Saint Lau- ' 4> ^' ^ aurence was by birth a Spaniard, and
rence?archdea- treasurer of the Church at Rome, being deacon to
Sixtus tne PP e about the J ear 25 9. When his
bishop was haled to death by the soldiers of Va-
lerian the emperor, St. Laurence would not leave him, but
followed him to the place of execution, expostulating with
him all the way, " O father, where do you go without your
son ? You never were wont to offer sacrifice without me."
Soon after which, occasion being taken against him by the
greedy pagans, for not delivering up the church-treasury,
which they thought was in his custody, he was laid upon a
gridiron, and broiled over a fire : at which time he behaved
7. Name of Je-
tui.
PART ii.] OF THE CALENDAR. 69
himself with so much courage and resolution, as to cry out to his
tormentors, that " he was rather comforted than tormented ;"
bidding them withal "turn him on the other side, for that was
broiled enough." His martyrdom was so much esteemed in after-
times, that Pulcheria the empress built a temple to his honour,
which was either rebuilt or enlarged by Justinian. Here was
the gridiron on which he suffered laid up, where (if we may
believe St. Gregory the Great, who was too credulous in such
kind of matters) it became famous for many miracles.
. 5. St. Augustin was born at Togaste, a town
in Numidia in Africa, in the year 354. He ap- &g$5*-
plied himself at first only to human learning, such
as poetry and plays, rhetoric and philosophy ; being professor
at Rome first, and afterwards at Milan. At the last of these
places St. Ambrose became acquainted with him, who instruct-
ed him in divinity, and set him right as to some wrong notions
which he had imbibed. He returned into Africa about the
year 388, and three years afterwards was chosen bishop of
Hippo. He was a great and judicious divine, and the most
voluminous writer of all the Fathers. He died in the year 430,
at seventy-seven years of age.
. 6. The twenty-ninth of this month, as Du- 29 Beheadin
rand us says, was formerly called Festum collec- of Saint John
tionis S. Johan. Baptisteg, or the feast of gather- Ba P tlst -
ing up St. John the Baptist's Relics ; and afterwards by cor-
ruption, Festum decollatwnis, the feast of his beheading. For
the occasion of the honours done to this saint are said to be
some miraculous cures performed by his relics in the fourth
century : for which reason Julian the Apostate ordered them
to be burnt, but some of them were privately reserved. His
head was found after this, in the emperor Valens's time, and
reposited as a precious relic in a church at Constantinople.
SECT. IX. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in
September.
Giles, or ^Egidius, was one who was born at Sept j Gileg
Athens, and came into France, A.D. 715, having abbot and con-
first disposed of his patrimony to charitable uses.
He lived two years with Caesarius bishop of Aries, and after-
wards took to an hermitical life, till he was made abbot of an
abbey at Nismes, which the king, who had found him in his
70 OP THE CALENDAR. [CHAP. i.
cell by chance as he was hunting, and was pleased with his
sanctity, built for his sake. He died in the year 795.
7. Eunurchus, ^- Eunurchus, otherwise called Ecortius,
bishop of Or-' was bishop of Orleans in France, being present
at the Council of Valentia, A. D. 375. The cir-
cumstances of his election to this see were very strange. Be-
ing sent by the Church of Rome into France, about redeeming
some captives, at the time when the people of Orleans were
in the heat of an election of a bishop ; a dove lighted upon
his head, which he could not, without great difficulty, drive
away. The people observing this, took it for a sign of his great
sanctity, and immediately thought of choosing him bishop :
but not being willing to proceed to election, till they were as-
sured that the lighting of the dove was by the immediate di-
rection of Providence, they prayed to God that, if he in his
goodness designed him for their bishop, the same dove might
light upon him again, which immediately happening after their
prayers, he was chosen bishop by the unanimous suffrages of
the whole city. Besides this, several other miracles are attri-
buted to him ; as the quenching a fire in the city by his pray-
ers ; his directing the digging of the foundation of a church,
in such a place, where the workmen found a pot of gold, almost
sufficient to defray the charges of the building : his converting
seven thousand infidels to Christianity within the space of three
days : and lastly, for foretelling his own death, and in a sort of
prophetical manner naming Arianus for his successor,
s Nativity of ' ^* ^ke eighth of thisouonth is dedicated to
the blessed vir- the memory of the blessed Virgin's nativity, a
consort of angels having been heard in the air to
solemnize that day as her birthday. Upon which account the
day itself was not only kept holy in after-ages ; but it was also
honoured by pope Innocent IV. with an octave, A. D. 1244,
and by Gregory XI. with a vigil in the year 1370.
. 4. The fourteenth of this month is called
H ' ^ayi" ' 8 Holy -cross -day, a festival deriving its beginning
about the year 615, on this occasion : Cosroes
king of Persia having plundered Jerusalem, (after having
made great ravages in other parts of the Christian world,)
took away from thence a great piece of the cross, which
Helena had left there : and, at the times of his mirth, made
sport with that and the Holy Trinity. Heraclius the emperor
giving him battle, defeated the enemy, and recovered the
PART ii.] OF THE CALENDAR. 71
cross : but bringing it back with triumph to Jerusalem, he
found the gates shut against him, and heard a voice from
heaven, which told him, that the King of kings did not enter
into that city in so stately a manner, but meek and lowly, and
riding upon an ass. With that the emperor dismounted from
his horse, and went into the city not only afoot, but bare-
footed, and carrying the wood of the cross himself. Which
honour done to the cross gave rise to this festival.
8. 5. Lambert was bishop of Utrecht in the ,. T , .
. o . r 17. Lambert,
time of king Fepm I. But reproving the king's bishop and
grandson for his lewd amours, he was, by the mart y r -
contrivance of one of his concubines, barbarously murdered.
Being canonized, he at first only obtained a commemoration
in the calendar; till Robert bishop of Leeds in a general
chapter of the Cistercian order procured a solemn feast to
his honour, A. D. 1240.
. 6. St. Cyprian was by birth an African, of
a good family and education. Before his con- prianjaishop of
version he taught rhetoric ; but by the persua- c a rtl >ag e > and
r> ri ! i /f i i martyr.
sion or one Leecilms, a priest, (from whom he
had his surname,) he became a Christian. And giving all his
substance to the poor, he was elected bishop of Carthage in
the year 248. He behaved himself with great prudence in
the Decian persecution, persuading the people to constancy
and perseverance : which so enraged the heathen, that they
made proclamation for his discovery in the open theatre. He
suffered martyrdom September 14, A. D. 258, under Valeri-
anus and Gallienus, having foretold that storm long before,
and disposed his flock to bear it accordingly.
But the Cyprian in the Roman calendar cele-
brated on this day, as appears by the Roman ti^Roman" "
Breviary, is not the same with St. Cyprian of calendar a differ-
Carthage, but another Cyprian of Antioch, who
of a conjurer was made a Christian, and afterwards a deacon
and a martyr. He happened to be in love with one Justina,
a beautiful young Christian ; whom trying, without success,
to debauch, he consulted the Devil upon the matter, who
frankly declared he had no power over good Christians.
Cyprian, not pleased with this answer of the Devil, quitted
his service, and turned Christian. But as soon as it was
known, both he and Justina were accused before the heathen
governor, who condemned them to be fried in a frying-pan
72 OF THE CALENDAR. [CHAF. I.
with pitch and fat, in order to force them to renounce their
religion, which they notwithstanding with constancy persisted
in. After their tortures they were beheaded, and their bodies
thrown away unburied, till a kind mariner took them up, and
conveyed them to Rome, where they were deposited in the
church of Constantine. They were martyred in the year 272.
. 7. St. Jerome was the son of one Eusebius,
romefpriesrcon- born in a town called Stridon, in the confines of
fessor, and doc- pannonia and Dalmatia. Being a lad of pregnant
parts, he was sent to Rome to learn rhetoric un-
der Donatus and Victorinus, two famous Latin critics. There
he got to be secretary to Pope Damasus, and was afterwards
baptized. He studied divinity with the principal divines of
that age, viz. Gregory Nazianzen, Epiphanius, and Didymus.
And to perfect his qualifications this way, he learned the He-
brew tongue from one Barraban a Jew. He spent most of
his time in a monastery at Bethlehem, in great retirement and
hard study ; where he translated the Bible. He died in the
year 422, being fourscore years old.
SECT. X. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in October.
October i. Re- Remigius was born at Landen, where he kept
migius, bishop himself so close to his studies, that he was sup-
posed to have led a monastic life. After the
death of Bennadius, he was chosen bishop of Rhemes, for
his extraordinary learning and piety. He converted to
Christianity king Clodoveus, and good part of his kingdom ;
for which reason he is by some esteemed the apostle of
France. After he had held his bishopric seventy-four
years, he died at ninety-six years of age, A. D. 535. The
cruse which he made use of is preserved in France to this
day, their kings being usually anointed out of it at their
coronation.
. 2. Faith, a young woman so called, was
born at Pais de Gavre in France. She suffered
martyrdom and very cruel torments under the
presidentship of Dacianus, about the year 290.
9. Saint Denyi 3 - St - Denys, or Dionysius the Areopagite^
Areop. bishop was converted to Christianity by St. Paul, as is
recorded in the seventeenth of the Acts. He
was at first one of the judges of the famous court of the Are-
opagus, but was afterwards made bishop of Athens, where he
PART ii.] OF THE CALENDAR. 73
suffered martyrdom for the sake of the Gospel. There are
several books which bear his name ; but they seem all of them
to have been the product of the sixth century. He is claimed
by the French as their tutelar saint, by reason that, as they
say, he was the first that preached the Gospel to them. But
it is plain that Christianity was not preached in that nation till
long after St. Dionysius's death. Among several foolish and
incoherent stories, which they relate of him, this is one : that,
after several grievous torments undergone, he was beheaded
by Fescennius, the Roman governor at Paris ; at which time he
took up his head, after it was severed from his body, and
walked two miles with it in his hands, to a place called the
Martyr's-hill, and there laid down to rest.
.4. The thirteenth of this month is dedicated ., _,
L i_ c i -r> J j .LI n < 1 13> Translation
to the memory or king Edward the Confessors of king Edward
translation. He was the youngest son of king the Confessor -
Ethelred ; but, all his elder brothers being dead, or fled away,
he came to the crown of England in the year 1042. His
principal excellency was his gathering together a body of all
the most useful laws, which had been made by the Saxon and
Danish kings. The name of Confessor is supposed to have
been given him by the pope, for settling what was then called
Rome-scot ; but is now better known by the name of Peter-
pence. The monks have attributed so many miracles to him,
that even his vestments are by them reputed holy. His crown,
chair, staff, spurs, &c., are still made use of in the corona-
tion of our English kings.
. 5. Etheldred was daughter of Anna, a king
of the East-Angles, who was first married to one 17 ' ^gln red>
Tonbert, a great lord in Lincolnshire, &c., and
after him to king Egfrid about the year 671, with both which
husbands she still continued a virgin, upon pretence of great
sanctity. And staying at court twelve years, and continuing
this moroseness, she got leave to depart to Coldingham abbey,
where she was a nun under Ebba, the daughter of king Ethel-
frida, who was abbess. Afterward she built an abbey at Ely,
which she was abbess of herself, and there died and was
buried, being recorded to posterity by the name of St. Audry.
. 6. Crispinus and Orispianus were brethren,
and born at Rome : from whence they travelled
to Soissons in France, about the year 303, in
order to propagate the Christian religion. But because they
would not be chargeable to others for their maintenance,
74 OF THE CALENDAR. [CHAP. i.
they exercised the trade of shoemakers. But the governor
of the town discovering them to be Christians, ordered them
to be beheaded about the year 303. From which time the
shoemakers made choice of them for their tutelar saints.
SECT. XL Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy -days in
November.
THE second of this month is called All-Souls
^ouis day. day, being observed in the Church of Rome up-
on this occasion. A monk having visited Jeru-
salem, and passing through Sicily as he returned home, had
a mind to see mount ^Etna, which is continually belching out
fire and smoke, and upon that account by some thought to be
the mouth of hell. Being there, he heard the devils within
complain, that many departed souls were taken out of their
hands by the prayers of the Cluniac monks. This, when he
came home, he related to his abbot Odilo, as a true story ;
who thereupon appointed the second of November to be
annually kept in his monastery, and prayers to be made there
for all departed souls : and in a little time afterwards the
monks got it to be made a general holy-day by the appoint-
ment of the pope ; till in ours and other reformed churches
it was deservedly abrogated.
. 2. Leonard was born at Le Nans, a town
1 " in France, bred up in divinity under Remigius
bishop of Rhemes, and afterwards made bishop
of Limosin. He obtained of king Clodoveus a favour, that
all prisoners whom he went to see should be set free. And
therefore whenever he heard of any persons being prisoners
for the sake of religion, or any other good cause, he presently
procured their liberty this way. But the monks have improved
this story, telling us, that if any one in prison had called upon
his name, his fetters would immediately drop off, and the
prison doors fly open : insomuch that many came from far
countries, brought their fetters and chains, which had fallen
off by his intercession, and presented them before him in
token of gratitude. He died in the year 500, and has always
been implored by prisoners as their saint.
. , t * St. Martin's account has already been
11. Saint Martin, . 3 J
buhop and con- given On J Uiy 4.
. 4. Britius, or St. Price, was successor to St.
""hj 1 ! 1 "" Martin in the bishopric of Tours. About the
year 432, a great trouble befell him : for his
PART ii.] OF THE CALENDAR. 75
laundress proving with child, the uncharitable people of the
town fathered it upon Brice. After the child was born, the
censures of the people increased, who were then ready to stone
their bishop. But the bishop having ordered the infant to be
brought to him, adjured him by Jesus the son of the living
God, to tell him whose child he was. The child being then
but thirty days old, replied, " You are not my father." But
this was so far from mending matters with Brice, that it made
them much worse ; the people now accusing him of sorcery
likewise. At last, being driven out of the city, he appealed
to Rome, and, after a seven years' suit, got his bishopric again.
The story is told of him by Gregory Turonensis, his successor
in his see at Tours.
. 5. Machutus, otherwise called Maclacius,
was a bishop in Bretagne in France, of that place 15 ' b^p. 1118 '
which is from him called St. Maloes. He lived
about the year 500, and was famous for many miracles, if the
acts concerning him may be credited.
. 6. Hugh was born in a city of Burgundy,
called Gratianopolis. He was first a regular 17 KoYn Sh P
canon, and afterwards a Carthusian monk. Be-
ing very famous for his extraordinary abstinence and austerity
of life, king Henry II. having built a house for Carthusian
monks at Witteham in Somersetshire, sent over Reginald bi-
shop of Bath to invite this holy man to accept the place of the
prior of this new foundation. Hugh, after a great many en-
treaties, assented, and came over with the bishop, and was by
the same king made bishop of Lincoln : where he gained an
immortal name for his well governing that see, and new build-
ing the cathedral from the foundation. In the year 1200,
upon his return from Carthusia, the chief and original house
of their order, (whither he had made a voyage,) he fell sick
of a quartan ague at London, and there died on November
the seventeenth. His body was presently conveyed to Lin-
coln, and happening to be brought thither when John king of
England and William king of Scots had an interview there,
the two kings, out of respect to his sanctity, assisted by some
of their lords, took him upon their shoulders, and carried him
to the cathedral. In the year 1220, he was canonized at
Rome : and his body being taken up October 7, 1282, was
placed in a silver shrine. The monks have ascribed several
miracles to him, which I shall omit for brevity, and only set
76 OF THE CALENDAR. [CHAP. i.
down one story which is credibly related of him, viz. that
coming to Godstow, a house of nuns near Oxford, and seeing
a hearse in the middle of the choir covered with silk, and ta-
pers burning about it, (it being then, as it is still in some parts
of England, a custom to have such monuments in the church
for some time after the burial of persons of distinction,) he
asked who was buried there ; and being informed that it was
Fair Rosamond, the concubine of king Henry II., who had
that honour done her for having obtained a great many favours
of the king for that house, he immediately commanded her
body to be digged up, and to be buried in the churchyard,
saying it was a place a great deal too good for a harlot, and
therefore he would have her removed, as an example to terrify
other women from such a wicked and filthy kind of life.
20 Edmund ^' Edmund was a king of the East- Angles,
king and mar- who, being assaulted by the Danes (after their ir-
ruption into England) for their possession of his
country, and not being able to hold out against them, offered
his own person, if they would spare his subjects. But the
Danes having got him under their power, endeavoured to
make him renounce his religion : which he refusing to do,
they first beat him with bats, then scourged him with whips,
and afterwards binding him to a stake, shot him to death with
their arrows. His body was buried in a town where Sigebert,
one of his predecessors, had built a church ; and where after-
wards (in honour of this name) another was built more spa-
cious, and the name of the town, upon that occasion, called
St. Edmund's Bury.
22. czciiia, ^' CcecUia was a Roman lady who, refusing
virgin and mar- to renounce her religion when required, was
thrown into a furnace of boiling water, and scald-
ed to death : though others say she was stifled by shutting out
the air of a bath, which was a death sometimes inflicted upon
women of quality who were criminals. She lived in the year
225.
. 9. St. Clement I. was a Roman by birth,
i S ,'bUno C p e o? eDt and one of the first bishops of that place : which
Rome, and mr- gee he held, according to the best accounts, from
the year 64 or 65 to the year 81, or thereabouts ;
and during which time he was most undoubtedly author of one,
and is supposed to have been of two, very excellent epistles,
the first of which was so much esteemed of by the primitive
PART ii.] OF THE CALENDAR. 77
Christians, as that for some time it was read in the churches for
canonical scripture. 24 He was for the sake of his religion first
condemned to hew stones in the mines ; and afterwards, hav-
ing an anchor tied about his neck, was drowned in the sea.
.10. St. Catlierine was born at Alexandria, 25 Catherinei
and bred up to letters. About the year 305 she virgin and mar-
was converted to Christianity, which she after- tyr-
wards professed with great courage and constancy ; openly
rebuking the heathen for offering sacrifice to their idols, and
upbraiding the cruelty of Maxentius the emperor to his face.
She was condemned to suffer death in a very unusual manner,
viz. by rolling a wheel stuck round with iron spikes, or the
points of swords, over her body.
SECT. XII. Of the Romish Saints-days and Holy-days in
December.
Nicolas was born at Patara, a city of Lycia, Dec 6 Nicolagi
and was afterwards, in the time of Constantine bishop of Myra '
the Great, made bishop of Myra. He was re- ta Lycia<
markable for his great charity ; as a proof of which this instance
may serve. Understanding that three young women, daughters
of a person who had fell to decay, were tempted to take lewd
courses for a maintenance, he secretly conveyed a sum of
money to their father's house, sufficient to enable him to pro-
vide for them in a virtuous way.
. 2. The feast of the Conception of the Virgin 8 conception of
Mary was instituted by Anselm, archbishop of the blessed vir-
Canterbury, upon occasion of William the Con- gm
queror's fleet being in a storm, and afterwards coming safe to
shore. But the Council of Oxford, held in the year 1222, left
people at liberty whether they would observe it or not. But
it had before this given rise to the question ventilated so
warmly in the Roman Church, concerning the Virgin Mary's
immaculate conception ; which was first started by Peter
Lombard about the year 1160.
.3. Lucy was a young lady of Syracuse, who,
being courted by a gentleman, but preferring a ^and^rtyr. 81 "
religious single life before marriage, gave all her
fortune away to the poor, in order to stop his further appli-
cations. But the young man, enraged at this, accused her
to Paschasius, the heathen judge, for professing Christianity.
94 Cave's Historia Literaria.
78 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. it.
who thereupon ordered her to be sent to the stews : but she
struggling with the officers who were to carry her, was, after a
great deal of barbarous usage, killed by them. She lived in
the year 305.
. 4. The sixteenth of December is called O
16. o sapientia. g a pi en i^ f rom fa c beginning of an anthem in
the Latin service, which used to be sung in the church (for
the honour of Christ's advent) from this day till Christmas Eve.
. 5. Silvester succeeded Miltiades in the pa-
fiop S of V Rome bi - pacy of Home, A. D. 314. He is said to have
been the author of several rites and ceremonies
of the Romish Church, as of asylums, unctions, palls, cor-
porals, mitres, &c. He died in the year 334.
CHAPTER II.
OF THE FIRST RUBRIC.
THE INTRODUCTION.
HAVING done with the Tables, Rules, and Calendar, I should
now proceed in order to the daily Morning and Evening Ser-
vice: but the First Rubric, relating to that service, making
mention of several things which deserve a particular consider-
ation, and which must necessarily be treated of some where or
other ; I think this the properest place to do it in, and shall
therefore take the opportunity of this rubric to treat of them
in a distinct chapter by themselves.
The Rubric runs thus :
U The ORDER for MORNING and EVENING PRAYER,
daily to be said and used throughout the year.
The Morning and Evening flayer shall be used in the accus-
tomed place of the church, chapel, or chancel ; except it shall
be otherwise determined by the ordinary of the place ; and
the chancels shall remain as they have done in times past.
And here it is to be noted, that such ornaments of the church,
and the ministers thereof, at all times of their ministration,
shall be retained and be in use, as were in this Church of
England, by the authority of parliament, in the second year
of the reign of king Edward the Sixth.
SECT, i.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 79
These are the words of the rubric, and from thence I shall
take occasion to treat of these four things, viz.
I. The prescribed times of public prayer ; Morning and
Evening.
II. The place where it is to be used ; in the accustomed
place of the church, chapel, or chancel.
III. The Minister, or person officiating.
IV. The Ornaments used in the church by the minister.
Of all which in their order.
SECT. I. Of the prescribed Times of Public Prayer.
MAN, consisting of soul and body, cannot al- The necessity of
ways be actually engaged in the immediate prescribing set
e n J ii_ i i? ii_ -i /> times for the per-
service of God, that being the privilege of an- formance of DI-
gels and souls freed from the fetters of mor- vmeworsl p-
tality. So long as we are here, we must worship God with
respect to our present state ; and therefore must of necessity
have some definite and particular time to do it in. Now that
men might not be left in an uncertainty in a matter of so great
importance, people of all ages and nations have been guided
by the very dictates of nature, not only to appoint some cer-
tain seasons to celebrate their more solemn parts of religion,
(of which more hereafter,) but also to set apart daily some
portion of time for the performance of divine worship. To
his peculiar people the Jews God himself ap- why the Jewish
pointed their set times of public devotion ; com- sacrifices were
manding them to offer up two lambs daily, one in tiiiniund ninth
the morning, and the other at even, 1 which we hours-
find, from other places of Scripture, 2 were at their third and
ninth hours, which answer to our nine and three ; that so
those burnt offerings, being types of the great sacrifice which
Christ the Lamb of God was to offer up for the sins of the
world, might be sacrificed at the same hours wherein his death
was begun and finished. For about the third hour, or nine
in the morning, he was delivered to Pilate, accused, examined,
and condemned to die; 3 about the sixth hour, or noon, this
Lamb of God was laid upon the altar of the cross ; 4 and at
the ninth hour, or three in the afternoon, yielded up the
ghost. 5 And though the Levitical law expired together with
i Exod. xxix. 39. Numb, xxviii. 4. 2 Acts ii. 15, and chap. iii. 1. 3 Matt.
xxvii. 126. John xix. 14. * Matt, xxvii. 46, 50.
80 OP THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. n.
. . , our Saviour ; yet the public worship of God must
The primitive ... , ' J . r . ,
Christians ob- still have some certain times set apart for the per-
hourTof^rayer 6 f rmance f ^ ' an ^ accordingly all Christian
for the same churches have been used to have their public de-
votions performed daily morning or evening.
The Apostles and primitive Christians continued to observe
the same hours of prayer with the Jews, as might easily be
shewn from the records of the ancient Church. 6 But the
Why not enjoin- Church of England cannot be so happy as to ap-
ed by the church point any set hours when either morning or even-
ing prayer shall be said : because now people are
grown so cold and indifferent in their devotions, they would
be too apt to excuse their absenting from the public worship,
from the inconveniency of the time : and therefore she hath
only taken care to enjoin that public prayers be read every
morning and evening daily throughout the year ; that so all
her members may have opportunity of joining in public wor-
ship twice at least every day. But to make the duty as prac-
ticable and easy both to the minister and people as possible,
she hath left the determination of the particular hours to the
ministers that officiate; who, considering every one his own
and his people's circumstances, may appoint such hours for
morning and evening prayer, as they shall judge to be most
proper and convenient.
AH priests and 2. But if it be in places where congregations
deacons to say can De had, and the curate of the parish be at
the morning and , , .-, " f, -, . , ,
evening service, ho)ne, and not otherwise reasonably hindered,
o all nV atchurch 8 ^ e ex P ects or enjoins that he say the same in the
orp n rivate C iy U in ' parish church or chapel ivhcre he ministereth,
their families. an j cause a fan to , tolled thereunto, a con-
venient time before he begin, that the people may come to hear
God's mord, and to pray rvith him. But if, for want of a
congregation, or on some other account, he cannot conveni-
ently read them in the church ; he is then bound to say them
in the family where he lives : for by the same rubric, all
priests and deacons are to say daily the morning and evening
prayer, either privately or openly, not being let by sickness,
or some other urgent cause." 1 Of which cause, if it be fre-
quently pretended, the Scotch Common Prayer requires that
' Constit. Apost. 1. 8, c. 34. Tertull. de Jcjun. c. 10. Cypr. de Oral. Domin. Basil,
in Re. fut. Disp. Int. 87. Hieron. in Dan. 6. Rup. de Divin. Offlc. 1. 1, c. 5. ' The
Rubric at the end of the preface concerning the Service of the Church.
SECT. II.] OP THE FIRST RUBRIC. 81
they make the bishop of the diocese, or tlie bishop of the pro-
vince, the judge and allorccr. The occasion of our rubric was
probably a rule in the Roman Church, by which, even before
the Reformation and the Council of Trent, the clergy were
obliged to recite what they call the canonical hours, (i. e. the
offices in the Breviary for the several hours of day and night,)
either publicly in a church or chapel, or privately by them-
selves. But our reformers not approving the priests perform-
ing by themselves what ought to be th6 united devotions of
many ; and yet not being willing wholly to discharge the
clergy from a constant repetition of their prayers, thought fit
to discontinue these solitary devotions ; but at the same time
ordered, that if a congregation at church could not be had, the
public service, both for morning and evening, should be re-
cited in the family where the minister resided. Though, ac-
cording to the first book of king Edward, this is not meant
that any man shall be bound to the saying of it, but such as
from time to time in cathedral and collegiate churches, par-
ish churches, and chapels to the same annexed, shall serve the
congregation. Though these words in that book immediately
follow the first part of the rubric which relates to the language
in which the service is to be said ; the two other paragraphs
discoursed of in this section, being the first inserted in the
book that was published in 1552.
SECT. II. Of Churches ; or places set apart for the perform-
ance of Divine Worship.
THE public worship of God, being to be per- The necessity of
formed by the joint concurrence of several prilte^ac'es"^
people, does not only require a place conve- the public wor-
il C 11 *U 4 Ul tU shi P of God -
niently capacious for all that assemble together to
perform that worship ; but there must be also some deter-
minate and fixed place appointed, that so all who belong to
the same congregation may know whither they may repair
and meet one another. This reason put even The un i versa i
the heathens, who were guided by the light of practice of the
nature, upon erecting public places for the hon-
our of their gods, and for their own conveniency, in meeting
together to pay their religious services and devotions. And
the patriarchs, by the same light of nature, and the guidance
of God's holy Spirit, had altars, 8 mountains, 9 and groves, 10 for
8 Gen. xii. 7, 8. Gen. xxii. 2. w Gen. xxi. 33.
Q
82 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. II.
Jewj that purpose. In the wilderness, where the
Israelites themselves had no settled habitation,
they had, by God's command, a moving tabernacle. 11 And
as soon as they should be fixed in the land of promise, God
appointed a temple to be built at Jerusalem, 12 which David
intended, 13 and Solomon performed. 14 And after that was
demolished, another was built in the room of it; 15 which
Christ himself owned for Ms house of prayer
and which both he and his Apostles frequented
as well as the synagogues. And that the Apostles after him
had churches fixed, and appropriate places for the joint per-
formance of divine worship, will be beyond all dispute, if we
take but a short survey of the first ages of Christianity. In
the sacred writings we find more than probable footsteps of
some determinate places for their solemn conventions, and
peculiar only to that use. Of this nature was that vTrepyov, or
upper room, into which the Apostles and disciples (after their
return from our Saviour's ascension) went up, as into a place
commonly known, and separate to divine use. 17 Such a one,
if not the same, was that one place wherein they were all as-
sembled with one accord upon the day of Pentecost, when
the Holy Ghost visibly came down upon them. 18 And this
the rather, because the multitude (and they too strangers of
every nation under heaven) came so readily to the place upon
the first rumour of so strange an accident ; which could
hardly have been, had it not been commonly known to be
the place where the Christians used to meet together. And
this very learned men take to be the meaning of the forty-
sixth verse of the second chapter of the Acts : They con-
tinued daily roith one accord in the temple, and breaking
bread, (car* oK-ov, (not, as we render it, from house to house,
but) at home, as it is in the margin, or in the house, they eat
their meat with gladness of heart ; i. e. when they had per-
formed their daily devotions at the temple, at the accustomed
hours of prayer, they used to return home to this upper room,
there to celebrate the holy eucharist, and then go to their
ordinary meals. And Mr. Gregory proves that the upper
rooms, so often mentioned in Scripture, were places in that
part of the house which was highest from the ground, set
apart by the Jews as well as Christians for the performance of
" Exod. XXT. ws. Deut. xii. 10, 11. 1 Chron. xvil. 1. 2. chap. xxii. 7.
chap, xxviil. 2. H 1 Kings vi. Ecn lii. 8, tc. " Matt. xxi. IS. " Act* i. 13.
ta Acti 11. 1.
SECT, ii.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 83
public worship and devotions. 19 However, this interpretation
of the text seems to be clear and unforced, and the more
probable, because it follows the mention of their assembling
together in that one place on the day of Pentecost, which
room is also called by the same name of house, at the second
verse of that chapter. And it is not at all unlikely, but that,
when the first believers sold their houses and lands, and laid
tlie money at the Apostles' feet, is supply the necessities of the
Church ; some of them might give their houses (at least some
eminent room in them) for the Church to meet in, and to per-
form their sacred duties. Which also may be the reason why
the Apostle so often salutes such and such a person, and the
Church in his house; which seems clearly to intimate, that
in such cr such a house (probably in the inrepuov, or upper
room of it) was the constant and solemn convention of the
Christians of that place for their joint celebration of divine
worship. For that this salutation is not used merely because
their families were Christians, appears from other salutations
of the same Apostle, where Aristobulus and Narcissus, &c. are
saluted with their household. 21 And this will be further cleared
by that famous passage of St. Paul, 22 where taxing the Co-
rinthians for their irreverence and abuse of the Lord's sup-
per, one greedily eating before another, and some of them even
to excess ; What ! says he, have you not Jiotises to eat and
drink in ? or despise ye the church of God? Where, that by
church is not meant the assembly meeting, but the place in
which they used to assemble, is evident partly from what went
before, (for their coming together in the church is explained
by their coming together into one place plainly arguing that
the Apostle meant not the persons, but the place,} partly from
the opposition which he makes between the church and their
own private houses : if they must have such irregular banquets,
they had houses of their own, where it was much fitter to have
their ordinary repasts, than in that place which was set apart
for the common exercises of religion, and therefore not to be
dishonoured by such extravagant and intemperate feastings,
which was no less than despising it. For which reason he
enjoins them in the close of the chapter, that if any man hun-
ger, he should eat at home. And in this sense was this text
always understood by the ancient Fathers. 25
w Observations upon Scripture, chap. 23. M Rom. xvi. 3, 5. 1 Cor. xvi. 19. Col.
iv. 15. Philem. ver. 1, 2. Rom. xvi. 10, 11, 14. 2 Tim. iv. 19. ** 1 Cor. xi. 22.
1 Cor. xi. 18. * 4 1 Cor. xi. 20. August. Quzest. 57, in Leviticum, torn. iii.
G 2
84 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. 11.
Thus stood the case during the times of the
An cVri r sul!ns Ve Apostles : as for the ages after them, we find that
the primitive Christians had their fixed and de-
finite places of worship, especially in the second century ; as,
had we no other evidence, might be made good from the
testimony of the author of that dialogue in Lucian, (if not
Lucian himself,) who expressly mentions that house or room
wherein the Christians were wont to assemble together.**
And Justin Martyr expressly affirms, that " upon Sunday all
Christians (whether in town or country) used to assemble to-
gether in one place;" 27 which could hardly have been done,
had not that place been fixed and settled. The same we find
afterwards in several places of Tertullian, who speaks " of their
coming into the church and house of God;" 1 * which he else-
where- 3 calls the liouse of our Dove, i. e. of the Holy Spirit;
and there describes the very form and fashion of it. And in
another place, 30 speaking of their going into the water to be
baptized, he tells us, " They were wont first to go into the
church, to make their solemn renunciation before the bishop."
About this time, in the reign of Alexander Severus, the em-
peror, (who began his reign about the year 222,) the heathen
historian tells us, 31 that when there was a contest between the
Christians and vintners about a certain public place, which the
Christians had challenged for theirs ; the emperor gave the
cause for the Christians against the vintners, saying, "It was
much better that God should be worshipped there any ways,
than that the vintners should possess it." If it be said, that
" the heathens of those times generally accused the Christians
for having no temples, and charged it upon them as a piece of
atheism and impiety ; and that the Christian apologists did not
deny it ;" the answer depends upon the notion they had of a
temple ; by which the Gentiles understood the places devoted
to their gods, and wherein the deities were enclosed and shut
up ; places adorned with statues and images, with fine altars
and ornaments. 32 And for such temples as these, they freely
confessed they neither had nor ought to have any, for the
TBUE GOD did not (as the heathens supposed theirs did) dwell
col. 516, F. Basil. Moral. Reg. SO, c. 1, torn. il. p. 4S7, A. Chryrost. in 1 Cor. xi. 2J.
"loin. 27, torn. iii. p. 419, lin. 40. Theodoret. in eundem locum, torn. iii. p. 175, A.
*> Philopatr. vol. ii. p. 776. Amstelod. 1687. " Apol. 1. }. 87, p. 131. * De
Hum. 27, torn. iii. p. 419, lin. 40. Theodoret. in eundem locum, torn. iii. p. 175, A.
*> Philopatr. vol. ii. p. 776. Amstelod. 1687. " Apol. 1. $. 87, p. 131. _
Idol. c. 7, p. 88, D. ' Adv. Valentin, c. 3, p. 251, B. De Corona Milit. c. 3, p.
102, A. JEl. Lamprid. in Vita Alex. Sever, c. 49, apud HUt. August. Scriptor. p.
575. Lujfd. BaUv. 1661. Minutius Felix, c. 10, p. 61. Arnob. adv. Gentes, ad in-
iliuui 1. 6, p. 189, &c. Lactant. Inttitut. 1. 2, c. 2. p. ) 18
iECT. ii.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 85
in temples made with hands ; he neither needed, nor could
possibly be honoured by them : and therefore they purposely
abstained from the word temple, which is not used by any
Christian writer for the place of the Christian assemblies, for
the best part of the first three hundred years. But then those
very writers, who deny that Christians had any temples, do at
the same time acknowledge that they had their meeting places
for divine worship ; their conventicula, as Arnobius calls
them, 33 when he complains of their being furiously demolished
by their enemies.
.2. It cannot be thought that in the first ages, Their churches
while the flames of persecution raged, the Chris- sumptuous and
tian churches should be very stately and magnifi- magmfi
cent : it were sufficient if they were such as the condition of
those times would bear ; their splendour increasing according
to the entertainment Christianity met withal in the world ;
till, the empire becoming Christian, their temples rose up into
grandeur and stateliness : as, amongst others, may appear by
the particular description which Eusebius gives of the church
of Tyre, 34 and of that which Constantine built at Constantino-
ple in honour of the Apostles : 35 both which, the historian tells
us, were incomparably sumptuous and magnificent.
. 3. I shall not undertake to describe at large
the several parts and dimensions of their churches, The t h e f
(which varied according to the different times and
ages,) but only briefly reflect upon such as were most common
and remarkable, and are still retained amongst us. For the
form and fashion of their churches, it was for the most part
oblong, to keep the better correspondence with the fashion of
a ship : the common notion and metaphor by which the Church
was wont to be represented, to remind us that we are tossed
up and down in the world, as upon a stormy and tempestuous
sea, and that out of the Church there is no safe passage to
heaven, the country we all hope to arrive at. It was always
divided into two principal parts, viz. the nave or body of the
church, and the sacrarium, since called chancel,
from its being divided from the body of the church ^h^caited.
by neat rails, called in Latin cancelli. The nave
was common to all the people, and represented the visible
world ; the chancel was peculiar to the priests and sacred
33 Arnobius adv. Gentes, ad finem 1. 4, p. 152. M Eccles. Histor. 1. 10, c. 4, p. 377.
3 De Vita Const, lib. 4, c. 58, 59, p. 555.
86 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. II.
persons, and typified heaven : for which reason they always
stood at the east end of the church, towards
thlTeMt"^ of which part of the world they paid a more than
the church, and ordinary reverence in their worship ; wherein,
Clemens Alexandrinus 36 tells us, they had respect
to Christ ; for as the east is the birth and womb of the natural
day, from whence the sun (the fountain of all sensible light)
does arise and spring ; so Christ, the true Sun of Righteous-
ness, who arose upon the world with the light of truth, when
it sat in the darkness of error and ignorance, is in Scripture 37
styled the EAST : and therefore since we must in our prayers
turn our faces toward some quarter, it is fittest it should be
towards the east ; especially since it is probable, even from
Scripture itself, that the majesty and glory of God is in a pe-
culiar manner in that part of the heavens, and that the throne
of Christ and the splendour of his humanity has its residence
there. 38 In this chancel always stood the altar or communion
table : which none were allowed to approach, but such as were
in holy orders, unless it were the Greek emperors at Constan-
tinople, who were allowed to go up to the table to make their
offerings, but were immediately to return back again. 39
. 4. But though the Christians of those times
ages forbiddenTn spared no convenient cost in founding and adorn-
tie primitive ing public places for the worship of God ; yet
they were careful not to run into a too curious
and over-nice superstition. No images were worshipped, or
so much as used, in churches for at least four hundred years
after Christ : and therefore certainly, might things be carried
by a fair and impartial trial of antiquity, the dispute about this
point would soon be at an end. Nothing can be more clear
than that the Christians were frequently challenged by the
heathens for having no images nor statues in their churches,
and that the Christian apologists never denied it, but indus-
triously defended themselves against the charge, and rejected
the very thoughts of any such thing with contempt and scorn ;
as might be abundantly shewn from Tertullian, Clemens Alex-
andrinus, Origen, Minutius Felix, Arnobius, and Lactantius.
But I shall only cite one of them, and that is Origen, who,
N Strom. 1. 7, p. 724, C. " In Zechariah ill. 8. and chap. vi. 12, the Messiah is
called the BRANCH; and in Luke i. 78, the DAY SIMUNC ; in all which places the
original words signify the EAST, and are so rendered in all other versions of the Bible.
*See Mr. Gregory's Notes and Observations upon Scripture, chap. 18, p. 71, &c.. and p.
4, 5, of his preface, with some other parts of his works printed at London, 1665.
Concil. Trull, can. 09, torn. vl. col. 1174, B.
SECT, ii.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 87
amongst other things, plainly tells his adversary (who had
objected this to the Christians) that the images, that were to
be dedicated to God, were not to be carved by the hands of
artists, but to be formed and fashioned in us by the word of
God ; viz. the virtues of justice and temperance, of wisdom
and piety, &c., that conform us to the image of his only Son.
" These," says he, " are the only statues formed in our minds ;
and by which alone we are persuaded it is fit to do honour to
him, who is the image of the invisible God, the prototype and
archetypal pattern of all such images." 40 Had Christians then
given adoration to them, or but set them up in their places of
worship, with what face can we suppose they could have told
the world, that they so much abhorred them ? But more than
this, the Council of Illiberis, that was held in Spain some time
before Constantine, expressly provides against them ; decree-
ing, 41 that " no pictures ought to be in the church, nor that
any thing that is worshipped and adored should be painted
upon the walls: " words too clear to be evaded by the little
shifts and glosses which the expositors of that canon would
put upon it. The first use of statues and pictures in the
churches was merely historical, or to add some beauty and
ornament to the place, which after-ages improved into super-
stition and idolatry. The first we meet with upon good au-
thority is no older than the times of Epiphanius, and then too
met with no very welcome entertainment; as may appear from
Epiphanius's own Epistle to John, then Bishop of Jerusalem : ^
where he says, that coming to Anablatha, a village in Pales-
tine, and going into a church to pray, he espied a curtain
hanging over the door, whereupon was painted the image of
Christ, or of some saint ; which when he had looked upon,
and saw the image of a man hanging up in the church, con-
trary to the authority of the holy Scriptures, he presently rent
it, and ordered the churchwardens to make use of it as a wind-
ing-sheet for some poor man's burying. This instance is so
home, that the patrons of image-worship are at. a loss what to
say to it, and after all are forced to cry out against it as sup-
posititious : though the famous Du Pin, who is himself of the
Romish communion, and doctor of the Sorbon, allows it to be
genuine, and owns that one reason of its being called in ques-
tion, is because it makes so much against that doctrine. 43
40 Contr. Cels. 1. 8, part 2, p. 521, E. Can. 36, torn. i. col. 974. Epiphan.
torn. ii. p. 317. Hist, of Ecclesiast. Writers, vol. ii. p. 236.
88 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. u.
More might be produced to this purpose : but by this, I hope,
it is clear enough, that the primitive Christians, as they
thought it sufficient to pray to God without making their ad-
dresses to saints and angels, so they accounted their churches
fine enough without pictures and images to adorn them.
. 5. And though these afterwards crept in
churches requi- again, and became the occasion of idolatry in the
site and neces- times of popery ; yet our Church at the Reform-
ation not only forbad the worshipping them,
but also quite removed them ; as thinking them too false a
beauty for the house of God. But though she would not let
religion be dressed in the habit of a wanton, yet she did not
deny her that of a matron : she would have her modest in her
garb, but withal comely and clean ; and therefore still allowed
her enough, not only to protect her from shame and con-
tempt, but to draw her some respect and reverence too. And
no man surely can complain, that the ornaments now made
use of in our churches are too many or too expensive. Good
men would rather wish that more care was taken of them,
than there generally seems to be. For sure a decency in this
regard is conformable to every man's sense, who professes to
retain any reverence for God and religion. The magnificence
of the first Jewish temple was very acceptable to God ; u and
the too sparing contributions of the people towards the second
was what he severely reproved : * 5 from whence we may at
least infer, that it is by no means agreeable to the Divine
Majesty, that we turn pious clowns and slovens, by running
into the contrary extreme, and worshipping the Lord, not in
the beauty, but in the dirt and deformity of holiness. Far
from us be all ornaments misbecoming the worship of a Spirit,
or the gravity of a church ; but surely it hath a very ill aspect
for men to be so sordidly frugal, as to think that well enough in
God's house, which they could not endure even in the mean-
est offices of their own. But to return to my first design,
churches to b . 6. When churches are built, they ought to
forma"ddica? a ^ ave a greater value and esteem derived upon
tion of them to them by some peculiar consecration : for it is not
enough barely to devote them to the public ser-
vices of religion, unless they are also set apart with the solemn
rites of a formal dedication. For by these solemnities the
founders surrender all the right they have in them to God,
44 1 Kings ix. 3. Haggai i. and U.
SECT. IT.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 89
and make God himself the sole owner of them. And formerly,
whoever gave any lands or endowments to the service of God,
gave it in a formal writing, sealed and witnessed, (as is now
usual between man and man,) the tender of the gift being
made upon the altar, by the donor on his knees. The an-
tiquity of such dedications is evident, from its being an uni-
versal custom amongst Jews and Gentiles : and it is observ-
able that amongst the former, at the consecration of both the
tabernacle and temple, it pleased the Almighty to give a
manifest sign that he then took possession of them. 46 When
it was first taken up by Christians is not easy to determine ;
though there are no footsteps of any such thing to be, met
with, in any approved writer, till the reign of Constantine ; in
whose time, Christianity being become more prosperous and
flourishing, churches were every where erected and repaired ;
and no sooner were so, but, as Eusebius tells us, 47 they were
solemnly consecrated, and the dedications celebrated with
great festivity and rejoicing. The rites and ceremonies used
upon these occasions (as we find in the same author 48 ) were a
great confluence of bishops and strangers from all parts, the
performance of divine offices, singing of hymns and psalms,
reading and expounding the Scriptures, sermons and orations,
receiving the holy sacrament, prayers and thanksgivings,
liberal alms bestowed on the poor, and great gifts given to the
church ; and, in short, mighty expressions of mutual love
and kindness and universal rejoicing with one another. And
these dedications were always constantly com-
memorated from that time forward once a year, Jdimt^akes!
and solemnized with great pomp, and much con-
fluence of people ; the solemnity usually lasting eight days
together : 49 a custom observed with us till the twenty-eighth
year of Henry VIII. , when, by a decree of convocation con-
firmed by that king, the feast of dedication was ordered to be
celebrated in all places throughout England on one and the
same day, viz. on the first Sunday of October. Whether
that feast be continued now in any parts of the kingdom, I
cannot tell ; for as to the wakes which are still observed in
many country villages, and generally upon the next Sunday
that follows the saint's day whose name the church bears, I
take them to be the remains of the old church holidays, which
Exod. xl. 34. 1 Kings viii. 10, 11. Hist. Eccl. 1. 10, c. 3, p. 370. Ibid,
et de Vita Const. 1. 4, c. 42, 43, p. 546, &c. Niceph. Cal. Hist. Eccl. 1. 8, c. 50, torn,
i. p. 653, B. w See Bp. Gibson's Codex, p. 276.
90 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. 11.
were feasts kept in memory of the saints to whose honour the
churches were dedicated, and who were therefore called the
patrons of the churches. 41 For though all
The name of an- r , , j j- ,. j j. !_.. r~< j
gels or saints churches were dedicated to none but God, as
given to appears by the grammatical construction of the
churches. r J 6 . ,
word church, which signifies nothing else but
the Lord's house ; 53 yet at their consecration they were gener-
ally distinguished by the name of some angel or saint ; chiefly
that the people, by frequently mentioning them, might be ex-
cited to imitate the virtues for which they had been eminent ;
and also that those holy saints themselves might by that means
be kept in remembrance.
S. 7. Though I have already been so long up-
Great respect 3 . . , , 6 T J , , -11 TI
and reverence on this head, yet 1 cannot conclude it, till 1 have
churches by^he OD8erve d what respect and reverence those primi-
primitive Chris- live Christians used to shew in the church, as the
solemn place of worship, and where God did
more peculiarly manifest his presence. And this we find to
have been very great. " They came into the church (saith
St. Chrysostom 53 ) as into the palace of the great King, with
fear and trembling ; " upon which account he there presses
the highest modesty and gravity upon them. Before their
going into the church they used to wash, at least their hands,
as Tertullian probably intimates, 51 and Chrysostom expressly
tells us,* 5 carrying themselves while they were there with the
profoundest silence and devotion. Nay, so great was the
reverence they bore to the church, that the emperors them-
selves, (who otherwise never went without their guard about
them,) when they went into the church, used to lay down
their arms, to leave their guard behind them, and to put off
their crowns ; reckoning that the less ostentation they made
of power and greatness there, the more firmly the imperial
majesty would be entailed upon them. 56 Examples, one would
think, sufficient to excite us to use all such outward testimo-
nies of respect as are enjoined by the Church, and established
by the custom of the age we live in, as marks of honour and
reverence : a duty recommended by Solomon, who charges us
to look to our feet, when me ffo into the house of God ;" be-
41 See the constitution of Simon Islip, 1362, in Bishop Gibson, p. 280, or in Mr. John-
son's Collection of Ecclesiastical Laws. M From Kvpioxif (which signifies the Lord's
house) comes Kyre, and by adding letters of aspiration, Chyrch or Church. :>:1 In I-'.p.
ad liebr. c. ix. Horn. 15, torn. iv. p. SIS, lin. ult. '' De Oratione, c. 11, p. 133, C.
14 In Johan. 13, Horn. 72, torn. ii. p. 861, lin. 23. M Codex Theodos. lib. tf, tit. ,
leg. 4, torn. ill. p. 363. " Eccles. v. 1.
SECT, in.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 91
ing an allusion in particular to the rite of pulling off the shoes
used by the Jews, and other nations of the East, when they
came into sacred places ; 59 and is as binding upon us to look
to ourselves by uncovering our heads, and giving all other ex-
ternal testimonies of reverence and devotion.
SECT. III. Of the Ministers, or persons officiating in Divine
Service.
ANOTHER thing mentioned in this rubric are The necessity of
the Ministers ; by whom we are to understand divine commis-
,1 i i . . ,7 ,. sion to qualify a
those who, being taken from among men, are or- person for any
dained for men, in things pertaining to God; an p^ e e d ffice>
honour which no man taketh to himself, but he that
is called of God, as mas Aaron ,- 59 for the ministerial office is of
so high a nature, that nothing but a divine commission can quali-
fy any person for the execution of it. The minis- First from the
ters of religion are the representatives of God Al- dignity of the of-
mighty : they are to publish his laws, and to pass fice ltself '
his pardons, and to preside in his worship. God has committed
to them the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whosesoever
sins they remit, they shall be remitted ,- whosesoever sins they
retain, they shall be retained. They are the stewards of the
mysteries of God, and the dispensers of his holy word and sa-
craments : in a word, they are the ambassadors of heaven :
and on their ministrations the assistances of the Holy Spirit
and all the graces of a good life depend. All these characters
and powers are ascribed to them in Scripture ; and consequent-
ly do sufficiently demonstrate the dignity of their office, and
are a plain argument that none but God himself can give them
their commission. For who dares, without the express orders
of Heaven, undertake an office which includes so many and
such great particulars ? Should any one take upon him the
character of an ambassador ; should he offer terms of peace
to enemies, pretend to naturalize foreigners, and grant par-
dons, without a commission from the supreme magistrate ; as
all his acts would be null and void, so he would be highly
criminal, and liable to the severest punishment. The applica-
tion is so easy, that the very heathens would never venture to
officiate in religious matters, without a supposed inspiration
from heaven, or a previous initiation by those, whom they
thought intrusted by the Deity for that purpose.
58 Exod. iii. 5. Josh. v. 15. Heb. v. 1, 4.
92 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHA*. n.
Among the Jews none could approach the pre-
Secondly, from c ~ , , . . r
the constant sence of God but such as were particularly ap-
pointed by him. When God instituted offerings
and sacrifices, and the other positive parts of his
worship, he at the same time set apart a peculiar order of men
to be the administrators of them. So that the persons who
were to minister were equally of divine institution with the
ministrations themselves. Thus Aaron and his sons, and the
Levites, were consecrated by the express command of God to
Moses, 60 and had all of them their distinct commissions from
heaven : and no less than death was the penalty of invading
their office. 81 Nay, God was more than ordinary jealous of
this honour, and vindicated it even at the expense of several
miracles. Thus, when Korah and his company (though Le-
vites, and consequently nearer to the Lord in holy matters
than the rest of the congregation) usurped the priest's office ;
God Almighty miraculously destroyed both them and their as-
sociates : and their censers were ordered to be beaten into
broad plates, and fixed on the altar, to be everlasting monu-
ments of their sacrilege, and a caution to all the children of
Israel, that none should presume to offer incense before the
Lord but the seed of Aaron, who alone were commissioned to
this office. 62 So also Uzzah was by the immediate hand of
God struck dead on the spot for touching the ark, though he
did it out of zeal to hinder it from falling ; to shew that no
pretence of doing God service can justify meddling in holy
things. 63 Saul, for offering sacrifice, (though he thought him-
self under a necessity of doing so,) lost his kingdom ;** and
king Uzziah, attempting to burn incense before the Lord, was
judicially smitten with leprosy, and so excluded for ever after,
not only from all sacred, but even civil society.** A plain ar-
gument, that the sacerdotal is not included in the regal office,
nor derived from thence, but that, on the contrary, it is of a
distinct nature and institution.
And, as St. Jerome rightly observes,** " What Aaron and
his sons and the Levites were in the temple ; such are the
bishops, presbyters, and deacons in the Christian church."
These are appointed by God, as those were ; and therefore it
can be no less sacrilege to usurp their office. Nay, it must
be far greater ; because the honour of the ministry rises in
proportion to the dignity of their ministration ; and therefore
UY. viil. Numb. 111. 5. rc. ' Numb. ill. 10, and xviii. 7. Numb. xvi.
J Sara. vl. 6, 7. * 1 Sam. xlH. 2 Chron. xxvL 16, Sec. Sub fine Epi-
tolc ad Evagrium.
SECT. HI.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 93
as it cannot be denied, but that realities are more valuable
than types, and that heaven is better than the land of Canaan ;
so the sacraments of the Gospel are certainly to be preferred
before all the offerings and expiations of the law.
And if we would but consider our Saviour's Th j rd ] y from
example, we should find that, though he wanted the example of
no gift to qualify him for this office, as having ourSaviour -
the divine nature inseparably united to his human, and giving
sufficient evidence of his abilities, when but twelve years old;
and though the necessities of mankind called loudly for such
an instructor, yet he would not enter upon his office till he
was externally commissioned thereto by the visible descent of
the Holy Ghost upon him, and by an audible voice from
heaven, proclaiming him to be the Messiah, when he was
about thirty years old. All the former part of his life he spent
in a private capacity ; doubtless to teach us, that no internal
qualifications, no good end nor intention, can warrant a man's
exercising any holy function, without a divine commission.
And we may observe that, though our Saviour Fourt hi y , from
had many followers, yet none of them presumed the practice of
to preach, or baptize, or perform any other sa- the Apost
cred office, till they were particularly commissioned by him.
He first ordained twelve, that they might be with him ; and
that he might send them forth to preach, and to have power
to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils ; 67 and afterwards
the other seventy, which went out upon a like errand, were
especially appointed by him. 68 So likewise, after his resur-
rection, when he advanced the eleven to be Apostles, he did
it in a most solemn manner : first breathing on them, and com-
municating to them the Holy Ghost ; and then, after he had as-
sured them of his own authority, he gave them the power of the
keys, and authority to exercise all the holy offices in the Chris-
tian Church, and to convey the same authority to others ;
promising them that he mould be always with them and their
successors, even to the end of the world ; and ratify and con-
firm what was done in his name, and agreeable to this com-
mission. From whence it is plain, that it was our Saviour's
express will and intention, that all those, who are ministers in
his Church, should either mediately or immediately derive
their authority from him. And accordingly we may observe,
that, in the beginning of Christianity, all those who officiated
" Mark iii. 14, 15. M Luke x. 1.
94 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC [CHAP. 11
in divine matters received their commission either from Christ
himself, or from apostolical hands, and very commonly from
both. The seven deacons were constituted by the Apostles ; 69
and St. Paul and St. Barnabas ordained elders in every church
which they planted. 70 The other Apostles used the same
method, as did also their successors after them, as is suffi-
ciently evident from Scripture and antiquity ; which abund-
antly proves the necessity of a divine commission, in order
to the being a minister in the Christian Church.
The necessity of , ' 2 " . l{ ^ be asked . W . h mftV be ^ 8a , id to
episcopal oniina- have this divine commission ? we need not doubt
to affirm, that none but those who are ordained
by such as we now commonly call bishops, can have any au-
thority to minister in the Christian Church. For that the power
of ordination is solely lodged in that order, shall be proved
from the institution of our Saviour, and the constant practice
of the Apostles. That the power of ordination lodged in the
Apostles was of divine institution, I suppose no one will ques-
tion, who reads these words of our Saviour to them, after his
resurrection ; As my Father sent me, so send I you ,- 71 and
Lo, lam with you always, even unto the end of the world: "'
from whence it is evident, first, That it was by a divine com-
mission, that our Saviour ordained or sent his Apostles. Se-
condly, That, by virtue of the same commission, the Apostles
were at that time empowered to ordain or send others. And,
thirdly, That this commission to ordain was always to continue
in the Christian Church, and to remain in such hands as the
Apostles should convey it to. From whence it naturally fol-
lows, that whoever has a power to ordain, must derive it from
the commission which our Saviour received from God, and
gave to his Apostles, and was by them conveyed to their suc-
cessors. The only way then to know in whose hands this
commission is now lodged, is to inquire what persons were
appointed by the Apostles to succeed them in this office. Now
it is plain to any one who will read the Scripture
ordew wV'a^art without prejudice, that there were three distinct
to the ministry orders of ministers in the Christian Church, in
the Apostles' days, which were designed to con-
tinue to the end of the world. For besides those two which
our adversaries allow, viz. deacons, and presbyters or elders,
(which latter are also sometimes called bishops,) we read of
Act* vi. 0. Acts xlv. 23. " John xx. 21. Matt. xxviii. 20.
SECT, in.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 95
another order, which were superior to, and had authority over,
both these: such as were the Apostles, and Timothy and
Titus, and others. For it is plain from the epistles St. Paul
wrote to the two last mentioned, that they presided over the
presbyters. They had power to enforce them to their duty,
to receive accusations against them, and judicially to pass
sentence upon them: which abundantly proves their supe-
riority. And several others were constituted by the Apostles
to the same office : such were St. James surnamed the Just,
and Epaphroditus, who were termed Apostles or bishops by all
antiquity : such doubtless were those whom St. Paul calls
Apostles of the Churches, and joins with Titus: 73 and such
also were those Angels of the Churches, mentioned in the
book of the Revelation.
Some indeed have been pleased to tell us, that " these
were extraordinary officers, and so of temporary institution
only." But this is said without any ground or plausible pre-
tence. That they were sometimes sent upon extraordinary
messages, and had a power, upon an occasion, to do extra-
ordinary things, such as miracles, &c., is very true : but then
the same is to be said of the other orders as well as this.
Philip was only a deacon, and yet God employed him in
several extraordinary matters. And working of miracles was
so common in the beginning of Christianity, that ordinary
Christians were frequently endued with this power. 14 So that,
if this were an argument for the temporary institution of one
order, it must be so too for all the rest ; which they, who
make the objection, dare not say, and therefore acknowledge
there is no force in it.
But they further urge, that " Timothy was an evangelist ;
because St. Paul bids him do the work of an evangelist" ' 5
But to this we answer, that an evangelist was no distinct
officer at any time in the Christian Church. For the proper
notion of an evangelist in the Acts and St. Paul's Epistles is,
one who was eminently qualified to preach the Gospel, and
had taken great pains therein. Thus Philip was called an
evangelist, 76 who was no more than a deacon ; and could
only preach and baptize, and had not the power of laying on
of hands, which Timothy had : and therefore the office of
Philip was far inferior to that of Timothy. Whence it is
n 2 Cor. viii. 23. . '* Mark xvi. 17, 18. Acts x. 46, and xix. 6. 1 Cor. xii. 10, 28.
2 Tim. iv. 5. Acts xxi. 8.
96 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. n.
evident, that allowing Timothy to be an evangelist, yet his
power over presbyters did not accrue to him upon that ac-
count. Nor does Timothy's being an evangelist prove the
office of ruling and ordaining presbyters to be peculiar to an
evangelist, any more than Philip's being called an evangelist
proves the office of preaching and baptizing to be so.
From what has been said therefore it plainly appears, that
there were three distinct orders set apart to the ministry by
the Apostles. Our next inquiry then is, to how many, or to
which of these, the power of ordination was committed.
Now that the lowest order (viz. that of deacons) had not this
power, is by all confessed : and that the highest order (of
which Timothy and Titus were) had it, we are assured by the
express testimony of St. Paul. The only ques-
MveHnvesteT tion then is, whether the second order (viz. that
with the power o f presbyters) was ever invested with this power.
of ordination. mi r tv * i_ i *
1 he affirmative of which question can never be
proved from Scripture or antiquity. For,
First, It is frivolous to argue from the community of names,
to the sameness of office. For any reasonable man will grant,
that the words bishop and presbyter being promiscuously used,
and mere presbyters being frequently called bishops in Scrip-
ture, does not prove, that therefore all the powers, which be-
long to those we now call bishops, were ever lodged in those
presbyters. The only method, then, to prove that the power
of ordination belongs to presbyters, is to shew, that whoever
were in Scripture called by the name of presbyters or bishops
were invested with that power: which can never be done.
For if presbyters or elders had the power of ordination lodged
in them, for what reasons can we suppose that St. Paul should
leave Titus in Crete on purpose to ordain elders in every city,
(as he tells him he did, 77 ) when we know that that island had
been converted to Christianity long before Titus came thither;
and therefore doubtless had many presbyters among them, to
preach and administer the sacraments to the inhabitants ? Nor,
Secondly, Can this be proved from that often quoted pas-
sage, 78 where St. Paul exhorts Timothy not to neglect the gift
that was in him, which was given him by propltecy, with the
laying on of the hands of the presbytery. For, allowing that
Timothy's ordination is here spoken of, (which yet many learn-
ed men have questioned,) it is manifest that the Apostles
" Tituii. 5. 1 Tim. IT. 14.
SECT, in.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 97
themselves were often called by the name of presbyters. And
so the presbyters here mentioned may very probably be the
Apostles. We are sure that St. Paul was one of them, and that
he ascribes the whole of Timothy's ordination to his own lay-
ing on of hands: 79 and therefore the utmost that can be de-
duced from this text is this, viz. That one or more of such as
were mere presbyters might lay on their hands in concurrence
with him, to testify their consent and approbation ; as is the
custom at this day in the ordination of a presbyter, and has
been sometimes done at the consecration of a bishop. 80 Nor,
Thirdly, Can it be inferred from any of the charges or di-
rections given by St. Paul in his epistles to either bishops or
presbyters, that they had ever any thing like the power of or-
dination : which makes it more than probable, that wherever
the word bishop is found in Scripture, as applied to an eccle-
siastical officer after our Saviour, the middle order is always
meant. 81 For though the Apostles are sometimes called pres-
byters and deacons, yet they are never called bishops. Their
office is once indeed called tiriaKo-n-ri, i. e. a bishopric : 83 but
wherever we meet with tiriaKoiroi, i. e. bishops, either in the
Acts of the Apostles, or the Epistles, we may very well un-
derstand the middle order, which we now call presbyters.
And as for those whom we now call bishops, they were, in the
first age of the Church, styled Apostles. For so St. Paul,
speaking to the Philippians concerning Epaphroditus, 83 calls
him his brother and companion in labour, vpwv Se aTrooroXov,
but your apostle , (for so the word ought to be rendered, and
not messenger, as in our translation ;) an office which it is
probable St. Paul ordained him to, when he sent him with
this Epistle ; for which reason, he charges them to receive him
in the Lord with all gladness, and to hold such in reputa-
tion.^ And Epaphroditus is accordingly, by all antiquity,
reckoned the first bishop of Philippi. So that the apostolical
office was not temporary, but designed to continue in the
Church of Christ. And therefore the Apostles took care to
ordain some to succeed them, who were at first called by the
same name, though they afterwards in modesty declined so
high a title ; as is expressly affirmed by Theodoret, who tells
79 2 Tim. i. 6. so yid. Bevereg. in Can. Apost. l,p. 11, ad fin. col. 2. And
therefore in the Syriac version of the New Testament, the word ewio-Koiroc is usually
rendered by presbyter, and etrtanovn by presbyteratus. Vide Bevereg. in Can. Apost.
2, p. 13, col. 1. < Acts i. 20. " Chap. ii. 25. See also 2 Cor. viii. 23. Gal. i. 19.
in both which places, by the original word aTtooToXoi, are to be understood those we
now call bishops. ** Phil. ii. 29.
98 OP THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. .
us, 84 " That formerly the same persons were called both pres-
byters and bishops ; and those now called bishops were then
called Apostles : but in process of time the name of Apostle
was left to those Apostles strictly so called, and the name of
bishops ascribed to all the rest." And Pacianus, a writer in
the fourth century, affirms the same thing. 86 So that granting
mere presbyters to be Scripture bishops, which some have so
earnestly contended for ; yet nothing can from thence be in-
ferred, to prove them to have equal power with those we now
call bishops, who are successors of a higher order.
And to what has been said, we might, for further proof, add
the joint testimony of all Christians for near fifteen hundred
years together ; and challenge our adversaries to produce one
instance of a valid ordination by presbyters in all that time.
It seems therefore very strange, that, if presbyters ever had
the power of ordination, they should so tamely give- up their
right, without any complaint, or so much as leaving any thing
upon record, to witness their original authority to after ages.
In short, we have as much reason to believe that the power
of ordination is appropriated to those we now call bishops, as
we have to believe the necessary continuance of any one posi-
tive ordinance in the Gospel.
And now, (to sum up all that has been said in a few words,)
a commission to ordain was given to none but the Apostles,
and their successors. And to extend it to any inferior order,
is without warrant in Scripture or antiquity. For every com-
mission is naturally exclusive of all persons, except those to
whom it is given. So that, since it does not appear, that the
commission to ordain, which the Apostles received from our
Saviour, was ever granted to any but such as must be acknow-
ledged to be of a superior order to that of presbyters, which
superior order is the same with that of those we now call
bishops; therefore it follows, that no others have any pre-
tence thereunto ; and consequently none but such as are
ordained by bishops can have any title to minister in the
Christian Church.
SECT. IV. Of the Ministerial Ornaments.
what ornaments THE 8econ ^ P ai * f this rubric is concerning
are meant in the the ornaments of the church, and the ministers
thereof, at all times of their ministrations.-
* Tn 1 Tim. iii. 1. torn. ill. p. 473, D. M Paclan. Episc. Barcelonens. ad Serapro-
nianuin de Catholico Nomine. Ep. 1. apud Bibliothec. 8. 8. Patrum torn. iii. col. 431.
Paris. 1589.
SECT, in.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 99
and to know what they are, we must have recourse to the
Act of Parliament here mentioned, viz. in the second year of
the reign of king Edward the Sixth : which enacts, That
all and singular ministers, in any cathedral or parish
church, $., shall, after the feast of Pentecost next coming,
be bounden to say the mattens, evening song, Sfc., and the
administration of the sacraments, and all the common and
open prayer, in such order and form as is mentioned in the
said book, (viz. first book of Edward VI.) and not other or
otherwise. So that by this Act we are again referred to the
first Common Prayer Book of king Edward VI. for the habits
in which ministers are to officiate ; where there are two ru-
brics relating to them, one prescribing what habits shall be
worn in all public ministrations whatsoever, the other relating
only to the habits that are to be used at the Communion.
The first is in the last leaf of the book, and runs thus :
In the saying or singing of mattens, or even-song, baptizing
and burying, the minister in parish churches and chapels an-
nexed to the same shall use a surplice. And in all cathedral
churches and colleges, archdeacons, deans, provosts, masters,
prebendaries, and fellows, being graduates, may use in the
choir, besides their surplices, such hoods as pertain to their
several degrees which they have holden in any university
within this realm, but in all other places every minister shall
be at liberty to use any surplice or no. It is also seemly that
'graduates, when they do preach, should use such hoods as per-
taineth to their several degrees.
And whenever the bishop shall celebrate the holy Commu-
nion in the church, or execute any other public ministration ;
he shall have upon him, beside his rochette, a surplice, or alb,
and a cope, or vestment, and also his pastoral staff in his
hand, or else borne or holden by his chaplain.
The other rubric that relates to the habits that are to be
worn by the minister at the Communion, is at the beginning
of that office, and runs thus :
Upon the day, and at the time appointed for the ministra-
tion of the holy Communion, the priest that shall execute the
holy ministry, shall put upon him the vesture appointed for
that ministration, that is to say, a white alb plain, with a
vestment or cope. And where there be many priests or
deacons, there so many shall be ready to help the priest in the
H 2
100 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. ir.
ministration, as shall be requisite. And shall have upon them
likeicise the vestures appointed for the ministry, that is to say,
albes with tunicles.
These are the ministerial ornaments enjoined by our pre-
sent rubric. But because the surplice is of the most general
use, and what is most frequently objected against; I shall
therefore speak more largely of that, and only give a short
account of the rest.
I. As to the name of surplice, which comes
why so "called from the Latin superpellieeum, I can give no
better account of it, than what I can put to-
gether from Durand, who tells us it was so called, because
anciently this garment was put super tunicas pellicas de pel-
libus mortuorum animalium factas, upon leathern coats,
made of the hides of dead beasts ; symbolically to represent
that the offence of our first parents, which brought us under
a necessity of wearing garments of skin, was now hid and
covered by the grace of Christ, and that therefore we are
clothed with the emblem of innocence. 87 But whencesoever
came the name, the thing certainly is good.
The antiquity, ^ or ^ ** ^ e thought necessary for princes and
lawfulness, and magistrates to wear distinct habits, in the ex-
sncyofu. ecu tion of their public offices, to preserve an
awful respect to their royalty and justice ; there is the same
reason for a different habit when God's ambassadors publicly
officiate. And accordingly we find that, under the Law, the
Jewish priests were, by God's own appointment, to wear de-
cent sacred vestments at all times ; M but at the time of public
service, they were to have, besides those ordinary garments,
a nthite linen ephod. m From the Jews it is probable the
Egyptians learned this custom to wear no other garments but
only of white linen, looking on that to be the fittest, as being
the purest covering for those that attended on divine service. 90
And Philostratus tells us, that the Brachmans, or Indian priests,
wore the same sort of garments for the same reasons." From
so divine an original and spreading a practice, the ancient
Christians brought them into use for the greater decency and
solemnity of divine service. St. Jerome at one and the same
time proves its ancient use, and reproves the needless scruples
* Durand Rational.!. 3, c. 1, numb. 10, 11,12. B" Exod. xxriii. and xxlx.
89 Exod. xxviii. 4. I Sam. 11. 18. Apul. in Apol. pan 1, p. 64. ParU. 1635. Vid.
Hferon. in Ezek. xliv. 17, torn. ir. p. 476, D. Philostr. Vit. Apol. Tyan. 1. 3, c. 15,
p. IOC. Lipsiz 170D.
SECT, iv.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 101
of such as oppose it. "What offence," saith he, "can it be
to God, for a bishop or priest, &c. to proceed to the com-
munion in a white garment ? " 93 The antiquity of it in the
Eastern Church appears from Gregory Nazianzen, who ad-
viseth the priests to purity, because " a little spot is soon seen
in a white garment." 93 And it is very probable that it was
used in the Western Church in the time of S. Cyprian ; for
Pontius, in his account of that Father's martyrdom, says, that
" there was a bench by chance covered with a white linen
cloth, so that at his passion he seemed to have some of the en-
signs of the episcopal honour." 91 From whence we may gather,
that a white garment was used by the clergy in those times.
. 2. The colour of it is very suitable ; for it
aptly represents the innocence and righteousness T why "white!' ^
wherewith God's ministers ought to be clothed. 95
And it is observable, that the Ancient of Days 96 is represent-
ed as having garments white as snow ; and that when our
Saviour was transfigured, his raiment was white as the light ; m
and that whenever angels have appeared to men, they have
always been clothed in white apparel. 98
. 3. The substance of it is linen, for woollen
would be thought ridiculous, and silk would ^ n adec
scarce be afforded : and we may observe, that
under the Jewish dispensation God himself ordered that
the priests should not gird themselves with anything that
caused sweat 99 to signify the purity of heart that ought
to be in those that were set apart to the performance of
divine service ; for which reason the Jewish ephods were
linen, 100 as were also most of the other garments which the
priests wore during their ministrations. 1 The Levites also
that were singers were arrayed in white linen, 2 and the armies
that followed the Lamb were clothed in fine linen ,- 3 and to
the Lamb's wife was granted, that she should be arrayed in
fine linen white and clean ; for the fine linen is, i. e. repre-
sents, the righteousness of saints ^
. 4. As for the shape of it, it is a thing so Theghapeofit .
perfectly indifferent, that it admits of no dispute.
The present mode is certainly grave and convenient, and, in
102 OP THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP, n
the opinion of Durand, significant ; who observes, that as the
garments used by the Jewish priesthood were girt tight about
them, to signify the bondage of the law ; so the looseness of
the surplices, used by the Christian priests, signifies the free-
dom of the gospel. 8
. 5. But neither its significancy nor decency
b iwered 8 *" will protect it from objections : for first, some
tell us, " it is a rag of popery : " an objection
that proves nothing but the ignorance of those that make it :
for white garments (let them be called what they will) were of
use amongst the most primitive Christians. Nor need our
adversaries do the Church of Rome a greater kindness, or
wound the protestant religion more deeply, than by granting
that white garments and popery are of the same antiquity.
They tell us, secondly, that " it has been abused by the
papists to superstitious and idolatrous uses." But to this we
answer, That it is not the priest's using a surplice, that either
makes their worship idolatrous or superstitious, or increases
the idolatry or superstition of it. For the worship of the Ro-
man Church is idolatrous and superstitious, whether the priest
be clothed in white, or black, or any other colour. All there-
fore that our adversaries can mean is this, viz. that the sur-
plice has been worn by the papists, when they have practised
idolatry and superstition : and this we grant : but then it does
not follow, that a surplice of itself is either unlawful or inex-
pedient. For white garments had, in this sense, been abused
to superstitious and idolatrous uses, before Daniel represented
God himself as wearing such garments ; and before our
Saviour wore them ; and before the angels and saints were
represented as clothed with them ; and before they became
the ministerial ornaments of the primitive times. But surely,
if such an abuse made them unlawful or inexpedient, it can-
not be conceived, that the primitive Church, and the inspired
writers, nay, God himself, would so plainly countenance
them.
II. Next to the surplice, that which is of most
frequent use in the celebration of divine service
is the hood, or the habit denoting the degree which the person
officiating has taken in the university. This in Latin is called
caputium or cucullus ; though of the two names the latter
seems to be the more proper and ancient. For the cucullus
* Rational Divln. Offic. 1. 3, c. 3, numb. 3, fol. 67.
SECT, iv.j OP THE FIRST RUBRIC. 103
was a habit among the ancient Romans, being a
coarse covering for the head, broad at one end B y^om first
for the head to go in, and then lessening gradually
till it ended in a point. 6
. 2. From the Romans the use of it was taken
up by the old monks and ascetics ; who, as soon
as they began in the church, made choice of this
habit as suitable to that strict reserved ness which they pro-
fessed. For when this was drawn over their faces, it at once
prevented them from gazing at others, or being stared at
themselves. And as the several orders of monks grew up,
there was hardly any one of them but had the hood or cowl,
only a little varied in the cut or fashion of it. But generally
it was contrived so, that in cold or wet weather it might be a
covering to the head ; or at other times, when they pleased,
they might let it fall back behind them, hanging upon their
neck by the lower end, after the same manner as it now is
generally used with us.
. 3. After this it came to be used by the ^T, yil8edin
several members of cathedral churches and col- cathedrals and
leges, though they were not allowed to have the universities -
same sort of hoods as the monks. And from these the uni-
versities took the use of it, to denote the difference of degrees
among their members ; varying the materials, colour, and
fashion of it, according to the degree of the person that wears
it. And that these academical honours (which always entitle
those they are conferred upon to the greater respect and esteem
of the people) might be known abroad as well as in the univer-
sities; the Church enjoins (both by this rubric and her
canons 7 ) that every minister, who is a graduate, shall wear
his proper hood during the time of divine service, but forbid-
ding all that are not graduates to wear it, under pain of sus-
pension ; allowing them, in the room of it, to wear upon their
surplices some decent tippet of black, so it be not silk. 8
III. The next ministerial ornament the rubric Of the rochette
above cited enjoins is the rochette, a linen habit
peculiar to the bishop, and worn under what we call the chi-
mere. The author of the acts of St. Cyprian's martyrdom says,
that the Father went to his execution in his pontifical habit ; 9
but whether this seems probable, I shall leave the reader to
8 Martial, lib. 5, Epigr. 14, lin. 0. Juvenal. Sat. 8, v. 145. 7 Can. 1 / , 25, 58.
Can. 58. ' Vid. Baronius's Annals, ann. 261, . 40, 41.
104 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CBAP. 11.
judge : however, it is certain the use of it is ancient, it being
described by Bede in the seventh century. 10 In the follow-
ing ages the bishops were obliged, by the canon law, to wear
their rochettes whenever they appeared in public : ll which
practice was constantly kept up in England till the Reforma-
tion ; but since that time the bishops have not used to wear
them at any place out of the Church, except in the parliament
house, and there always with the chimere, or up-
per robe, to which the lawn sleeves are generally
sewed ; which before and after the Reformation, till queen
Elizabeth's time, was always of scarlet silk; but bishop
Hooper scrupling first at the robe itself, and then at the colour
of it, as too light and gay for the episcopal gravity, it was
changed for a chimere of black satin. 1 ' 1
IV. The other things prescribed and enjoined
Of the alb. i ^i < - j i /,.u i
by the iorementioned rubrics (though now grown
obsolete and out of use) are the alb, the cope, the tunicle,
and the pastoral staff. The alb was a very ancient habit worn
by ministers in the administration of the communion, and
appears by the description given of it by Durand, 13 to have
been a kind of linen garment, made fit and close to the body
like a cassock, tied round the middle with a girdle, or sash,
with the sleeves either plain like the sleeves of a cassock, or
else gathered close at the hands like a shirt sleeve ; being
made in that fashion, I suppose, for the conveniency of the
minister, and to prevent his being hindered in the consecra-
tion and delivery of the elements, by its being too large and
open. They were formerly embroidered with various colours,
and adorned with fringes ; 14 but these our Church does not
admit of, though it still enjoins a white alb plain.
V. Over this alb, the priest that shall execute
f OT%o e i ment *te h l y ministry, (i. e. consecrate the elements,)
is to wear a vestment or cope; 15 which the bishop
also is to have upon him when he executes any public minis-
tration. This answers to the colobium used by the Latin, and
the ffaKKoc used by the Greek Church. It was at first a com-
mon habit, being a coat without sleeves, but afterwards used
as a church vestment, only made very rich by embroidery and
the like. The Greeks say it was taken up in memory of that
" Bede de Tabernac. citat. ab Almario, In Blblioth. Pair. 1. 10, p. 389. De-
cretal. 1. 3, tit. 1, cap. 15. See Hody's History of Convocat. p. 141. Durand
Rational, lib. 3, cap. 3, fol. 67. See also Dr. Watts, in his Glossary at the end of his
edition of Matthew Paris. '* Durand, ut supra. u gee also Can. 24.
SECT, iv.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 105
mock robe which was put upon our Saviour. How true this
may be I shall not inquire, but only observe, that it seems
prescribed to none but the bishop, and the priest that conse-
crates the elements at the sacrament. Thus the
c , , ,. /-,, i , j Copes, when and
twenty-fourth canon of our Church only orders, by whom to be
that the principal minister (when the holy com- worn-
munionis administered in all cathedral and collegiate churches)
use a decent cope, and be assisted with an epistler and gos-
peler agreeably, according to the advertisements published,
anno 7 Elizabethae : which advertisements order, that at all
other prayers no copes be used, but surplices.
VI. The priests and deacons that assist the
minister in the distribution of the elements, in-
stead of copes, are to wear tunicles, which Durand 17 describes
to have been a silk sky-coloured coat made in the shape of a
cope.
VII. The pastoral staff (though now grown
out of use) is yet another thing expressly enjoined th< staff. tt>ral
by the above-cited rubric. It is peculiar indeed
to the bishop alone, but expressly ordered to be used by him,
as an ensign of his office, at all public administrations. It was
made in the shape of a shepherd's crook, and was for many
ages, even till after the Reformation, 18 constantly given to the
bishop at his consecration, to denote that he was then consti-
tuted a shepherd over the flock of Christ. 19
These are the ministerial ornaments and habits These habits,&c.
enjoined by our present rubric, in conformity to offensive to Cai-
the first practice of our Church immediately after
the Reformation ; though at that time they were so very offen-
sive to Calvin and Bucer, that the one in his letters to the
Protector, and the other in his censure of the English Liturgy,
which he sent to archbishop Cranmer, urged very vehemently
to have them abolished ; not thinking it tolerable to have any
thing in common with the papists, but esteeming every thing
idolatrous that was derived from them.
However, they made shift to accomplish the
j , i_ 3 M. / ii c And disconti-
end they aimed at, in procuring a further reform nue d in the se-
of our Liturgy : for in the review that was made ^J.^ b y^ k of Ed '
of it in the fifth of Edward VI., amongst other
ceremonies and usages, these rubrics were left out, and the
following one put in their place, viz.
u Bp. Sparrow's Collection, p. 125. Rational. 1. 3, c. 10, fol. 73. > 8 See the
first ordinal, compiled A. D. 1549. " Durand, 1. 3, c. 15, fol. 77, &c.
106 OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. 11.
And here it is to be noted, that the minister, at the time of
the Communion, and at all other times in his ministration, shall
use neither alb, vestment, or cope ; but being archbishop or
bishop, he shall have and wear a rochette ; and being a priest
or deacon, he shall have and wear a surplice only?
But restored ^ u * ' n * ne next review under queen Elizabeth,
again by queen the old rubrics were again brought into authority,
and so have continued ever since ; being estab-
lished by the Act of Uniformity that passed soon after the
Restoration.
VIII. I must observe still further, that among
up7n*he g aUar. other ornaments of the church then in use, there
were two lights enjoined by the injunctions of
king Edward VI. (which injunctions were also ratified by the
act of parliament here mentioned) to be set upon the altar, as
a significant ceremony to represent the light which Christ's
Gospel brought into the world. And this too was ordered by
the very same injunction which prohibited all other lights and
tapers, that used to be superstitiously set before images or
shrines, 21 &c. And these lights, used time out of mind in the
Church, are still continued in most, if not all, cathedral and
collegiate churches and chapels, so often as divine service is
performed by candle-light ; and ought also, by this rubric, to
be used in all parish churches and chapels at the same times.
IX. To this section we might also refer the
menu h ened. pulpit-cloth, cushions, coverings for the altar, &c. ,
and all other ornaments used in the church, and
prescribed by the first book of king Edward VI.
SECT. V. Of the place appointed for the reading of Morning
and Evening Prayer.
or the place THE reader may observe, that, in the second
r n h d er e e ve I nh ing section of this chapter, I have only treated of
prayer is to be churches in general, and the necessity of having
appropriate places for the performance of divine
worship, and have not taken any notice of the particular place
in the church where morning and erening prayer is to be used.
The appointment of which was yet the chief design of the
AH divine - nr8 ' P ar * ^ our present rubric. For in the first
vice performed at book of king Edward VI. all the rubric relating
10 ' to this matter was only one at the beginning of
*> Rubric before the beginning of Morning Prayer, in the second Common Prayer
Book of king Edward VI. fl Sparrow'* Collection, p. 2, 3.
SECT, iv.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 107
morning prayer, which ordered the priest, being in the choir,
to begin, with a loud voice, the Lord's Prayer, called the
Pater-noster, with which the morning and evening service
then began. So that then it was the custom for the minister
to perform divine service (i. e. morning and evening prayer,
as well as the communion-office) at the upper end of the choir
near the altar ; towards which, whether standing or kneeling,
he always turned his face in the prayers ; though whilst he
was reading the lessons he turned to the people. This practice cla .
Against this, Bucer, by the direction of Calvin, moured against
most grievously declaimed ; urging, that " it was y Bucer -
a most antichristian practice for the priest to say prayers only
in the choir, as a place peculiar to the clergy, and not in the
body of the church among the people, who had as much right
to divine worship as the clergy themselves." He therefore
strenuously insisted, " that the reading divine service in the
chancel was an insufferable abuse, and ought immediately to
be amended, if the whole nation would not be guilty of high
treason against God." 22 This terrible outcry And altered
(however senseless and trifling) prevailed so far, upon MS com-
that when the Common Prayer Book was altered p amt '
in the fifth year of king Edward, this following rubric was
placed in the room of the old one ; viz. The Morning and
Evening Prayer shall be used in such places of the church,
chapel, or chancel, and the minister shall turn him, as the
people may best hear. And if there be any controversy
therein, the matter shall be referred to the ordinary, and he
or his deputy shall appoint the place.
This alteration caused great contentions, some 7^^ cause d
kneeling one way, some another, though still great conten-
keeping in the chancel : whilst others left the tlons '
accustomed place, and performed all the services in the body
of the church amongst the people. For the appeasing of this
strife and diversity, it was thought fit, when the English ser-
vice was again brought into the church, at the accession of
queen Elizabeth to the throne, that the rubric _.
TI-II ,, . . ,, Till the custom
should be corrected, and put into the same form was again restor-
in which we now have it ; viz. That the Morning JUj^gJyf
and Evening Prayer shall be used in the accus-
tomed place of the church, chapel, or chancel ; by which for
Vide Bucer, Cens. c. 1, p. 457. Rubric before the beginning of Morning
Prayer, in the second book of king Edward.
108 OP THE FIRST RUBRIC. [CHAP. n.
the generality must be meant the choir or chancel, which was
the accustomed place before the second Common Prayer
Book of king Edward. For it cannot be supposed, that this
second book, which lasted only one year and a half, could
establish a custom. However, a dispensing power was left
to the ordinary, who might determine it otherwise, if he saw
just cause.
The original of Pursuant to this rubric, the morning and
reading pews or evening service was again, as formerly, read in
the chancel or choir. But because in some
churches the too great distance of the chancel from the body
of the church, occasioned sometimes by the interposition of a
belfry, hindered the minister from being heard distinctly by
the people ; therefore the bishops, at the solicitations of their
inferior clergy, allowed them in several places to supersede
their former practice, and to have desks, or reading pews, in
the body of the church, where they might, with more ease to
themselves, and greater convenience to the people, perform
the daily morning and evening service. Which dispensation,
begun at first by some few ordinaries, and recommended by
them to others, grew by degrees to be more general, till at
last it came to be an universal practice : insomuch that the
convocation, in the beginning of king James the First's reign,
ordered, that in every church there should be a convenient
seat made for tJie minister to read service in. And this
being almost threescore years before the restoration of king
Charles II., (at which time the last review of the Common
Prayer was made,) it is very probable, that when they con-
tinued this rubric, they intended the desk or reading pew
should be understood by the accustomed place for reading
prayers. And what makes this the more likely, is a rubric
at the beginning of the communion, which expressly mentions
a reading pew, and seems to suppose one in every church.
It is true, indeed, another rubric at the beginning of the
Communion-office (which orders the table, at the communion-
time, to stand in the body of the church or chancel, where
morning and evening prayer are appointed to be said)
seems to have an eye to the old practice of reading prayers in
the choir. But this rubric being the same that we have in
king Edward's second Common Prayer Book, may perhaps
have slipt into the present book through the inadvertency of
* See Canon 82.
SECT, v.] OF THE FIRST RUBRIC. 109
the reviewers, who might not probably just then consider,
that custom had shifted the place for the performance of the
daily service into another part of the church. Though were
it certain that this rubric was continued in the last review, to
authorize the old way of reading the prayers in the choir, in
such places as had still retained that custom ; yet since the
ordinaries have a dispensing power, and they have approved
of the alteration that has been made in the introducing of
desks ; it seems as regular now to perform divine service in
them, as it was formerly to do it in the chancel or choir.
. 2. The occasion of the latter part of this
rubric relating to chancels, was also another of main as S they re ~
Bucer's cavils ; who in his censure of our Liturgy, h . ave done in
,, i .ii j. i i /> ii j tunes past.
in the same place that he complains of the read-
ing prayers in the choir, inveighs as vehemently against the
separation of the choir from the body of the church. This too
he calls " an antichristian practice, tending only to gain too
great reverence to the clergy, who would hereby seem nearer
related to God than the laity. That in ancient times churches
were built in a round form, and not in a long one like ours,
and that the place for the clergy was always in the middle ;
and that therefore our division of the chancels from the
churches was another article of treason against God." This
objection, discovering an equal share of ignorance and ill-
nature, seems to have obtained no greater regard than the
raillery deserved. For in the review of the Liturgy of the
fifth of king Edward, instead of an order to pull down the
chancels, as undoubtedly this mighty reformer expected, a
clause was added at the end of the first rubric to prevent any
alteration, expressly enjoining, that the chancels should re-
main as they had done in times past. There was afterwards
indeed a greater occasion for the continuance of this rubric ;
when a tumultuous rabble, encouraged by the complaints that
they had found had been made by this same Bucer, and his
director Calvin, 25 proceeded to demolish both chancels and
altars, pulling down the rails and frames that divided them
from the rest of the church, and divesting them of all the
25 Mr. Calvin (who was before thought by some to have offered his assistance too
officiously for carrying on the Reformation in England, and who with relation to our
Church had used some very hard expressions, not so well becoming the mouth of a
divine) warns Martin Bucer, in a letter he sent to him just before his coming into
England, against being the author or approver of middle counsels : by which words he
plainly strikes at the moderation observed in the English Reformation. Dr. Nichols's
Introduction to his Defence of the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England.
1 10 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. Tit.
ornaments that but seemed to intimate them to be more than
ordinary sacred. But this will fall more directly under my
consideration hereafter, when I come to treat of the situation
of the altar, to which the rubric in the beginning of the com-
munion-office will lead me.
CHAPTER III.
OF THE ORDER FOR MORNING AND EVENING
PRAYER DAILY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
THE INTRODUCTION.
THAT the primitive Christians, besides their
solemn service on Sundays, had public prayers
service in the every morninff and evening daily, has already
chSrc e been hinted upon a former occasion : * but a
learned gentleman is of the opinion, that this
must be restrained to times of peace ; and that during the
time of public persecution they were forced to confine their
religious meetings to the Lord's day only. 3 And it is certain
that Pliny 3 and Justin Martyr, 4 who both describe the manner
of the Christian worship, do neither of them make mention
of any assembly for public worship on any other day : so that
their silence is a negative argument that in their time there
was no such assembly, unless perhaps some distinction may
be made between the general assembly of both city and
country on the Lord's day, and the particular assemblies of
the city Christians (who had better opportunities to meet) on
other days : which distinction we often meet with in the fol-
lowing ages, when Christianity was come to its maturity and
perfection. However, it was not long after Justin Martyr's
time, before we are sure that the Church observed the cus-
tom of meeting solemnly on Wednesdays and Fridays, to
celebrate the communion, and to perform the same service as
on the Lord's day itself, unless perhaps the sermon was
wanting. 4 The same also might be shewed from as early
authorities in relation to the festivals of their martyrs and the
1 Chap. 2, Sect. 1, p. 80, 81. ' Mr. Bingliama Antiquities, book 13, ch. 9, sect. i.
vol. v. p. 281, tec. 3L.10.ep. 97. * Apol. 1, c. 87, p. 131, and c. 89, p. 132.
4 Tertul.de Orat. c. H.
INTRODUCTION.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. Ill
whole fifty days between Easter and Whitsuntide. 6 Nor need
we look down many years lower, before we meet with express
testimony of their meeting every day for the public worship
of God. For St. Cyprian tells us, that in his time it was
customary to receive the holy eucharist every day : a plain
demonstration that they had every day public assemblies,
since we know the eucharist was never consecrated but in
such open and public assemblies of the Church. 7
S. 2. That these daily devotions consisted of
11 The order of
an evening as well as a morning service, even their morning
from St. Cyprian's time, the learned author I and evening
J K. , , service.
just now referred to" endeavours to prove.
However, in a century or two afterwards, the case is plain ;
for the author of the Constitutions not only speaks of it, but
gives us the order of both the services. 9 The morning ser-
vice, as there described, began with the sixty-third, which
was therefore called the morning psalm. Immediately after
which followed the prayers for the catechumens, for those
that were possessed, for the candidates for baptism, and the
penitents, which made the general service on the Lord's day,
and which were partly performed by the deacon's 7rpoo-0wvr?<rie,
or bidding of prayer, something like our present Litany, but
only directed to the people, and instructing them for what
and for whom they were to offer their petitions ; and partly
by the bishop's invocation over them, pronounced as they
bowed down to receive his blessing before their dismission.
After these were dismissed, followed prayers for the peace of
the whole world, and for all orders of men in the Church,
with which the communion-service was begun on the Lord's
day ; and at which none but those who had a right to com-
municate were allowed to be present. After this followed
another short bidding prayer for peace and prosperity the en-
suing day ; which was immediately succeeded by the bishop's
commendatory prayer, or morning thanksgiving ; 10 which
being ended, the deacon bid them bow their heads, and re-
ceive the bishop's solemn benediction ; which after they had
done, he dismissed the congregation with the usual form, De-
part in peace: the word for dismissing every Church assembly.
This is the order of the morning service, as described by
Tertul. de Idololat. c. 14, de Coron. Mil. c. 3. * Cypr. de Orat. Domin. p. 147.
s Bingham, ut supra, . 7. p. 302. 9 Const. Apost. 1. 8, c. 37. w Eixap"a 'Optyuvif,
Const. 1.6, c. 38.
112 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
the Constitutions ; to which the evening service, as there also
set down, is in most things conformable. The prayers for
the catechumens, the possessed, the candidates for baptism,
and the penitents, were all the same ; so also were those for
the peace of the world, and the whole state of the Catholic
Church. So that all the difference between them was this,
viz. that they used the hundred and forty-first psalm at even-
ing instead of the sixty-third, which they used in the morning ;
and instead of the bidding prayer for peace and prosperity,
and the bishop's commendatory prayer in the morning ser-
vice, two others were used in the afternoon more proper to
the evening, and which for that reason were called the
evening bidding prayer, and the evening thanksgiving. The
bishop's benediction, too, at the conclusion of the whole,
was different from that which was used in the forenoon : but
excepting in these two or three particulars, both services
were one and the same ; and in the evening, as well as the
morning, the congregation was dismissed with the constant
form pronounced by the deacon, Depart in peace. The
reader, that is curious to see more of these forms, may consult
the learned Mr. Bingham, who transcribes most of them at
large, and compares the several parts of them with the memo-
rials and accounts that are left us by other ancient writers of
the Church : in which place he also takes occasion to shew,
that though in the form in the Constitutions there is but one
psalm appointed either at morning or evening ; yet from other
rituals it is plain, that it was customary in most places to re-
cite several of the psalms, and to mix lessons along with them,
both out of the Old Testament and the New, for the edifica-
tion of the people. 11 But this is what I have not room to do
here ; and indeed there is the less occasion, as it will come in
my way to speak of these points more largely hereafter, as the
order of the service I am now entering upon will lead me.
SECT. I. Of the Sentences.
why placed at PRAYER requires so much attention and seren-
the beginning of ity of mind, that it can never be well performed
without some preceding preparation : for which
reason, when the Jews enter into their synagogues to pray,
they remain silent for some time, and meditate before whom
they stand : " and the Christian priest, in the primitive ages,
See Mr. Bingham's Antiquities, vol. v. book 13, chap. 11, 12. " Buztorf. Synag.
Judaic, cap. 10, p. 194. Basil. 1661.
SECT. ii. in.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 113
prepared the people's hearts to prayer by a devout preface. 13
The first book of kiqg Edward indeed begins with the Lord's
prayer : but when they came to review it afterwards, and to
make alterations, they thought that too abrupt a beginning, and
therefore prefixed these sentences, with the following exhort-
ation, confession, and absolution, as a proper introduction, to
bring the souls of the congregation to a spiritual frame, and to
prepare them for the great duty they are just entering upon.
The sentences are gathered out of Scripture, that so we may
not dare to disobey them ; since they come from the mouth of
that God whom we address ourselves to in our prayers, and who
may justly reject our petitions, if we hearken not to his word.
.2. As to the choice of them, the reverend
compilers of our Liturgy have selected such as The them Ce f
are the most plain and the most likely to bring all
sorts of sinners to repentance. There are variety of disposi-
tions, and the same man is not always in the same temper.
For which reason they have collected several, and left it to
the discretion of him that ministereth, to use such one or more
of them every day, as he shall judge agreeable to his own, or
his people's circumstances.
SECT. II. Of the Exhortation.
THE design of the exhortation is to apply and
set home the preceding sentences, and to direct the^xhorStion.
us how to perform the following confession. It
collects the necessity of it from the word of God ; and when
it hath convinced us of that, it instructeth us in the right man-
ner, and then invites us to that necessary duty, for which it
hath so well prepared us. And for our greater encouragement,
the minister (who is God's ambassador) offers to accompany
us to the throne of grace, knowing his Master will be glad to
see him with so many penitents in his retinue. And he
promises that he will put words in our mouths, and speak with
us and for us ; only we must express the humility of our
minds by the lowliness of our bodies, and declare our assent
to every sentence by repeating it reverently after him.
SECT. III. Of the Confession.
THE holy Scriptures assure us, that sin unre- The confession,
pented of hinders the success of our prayers; 14 why placed at the
w Cypr. de Oral. Dom. p. 152. u Isa. i. 15. John be. 31.
1 14 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. HI.
beginning of the and therefore such as would pray effectually have
always begun with confession ; 15 to the end that,
their guilt being removed by penitential acknowledgments,
there might no l>ar be left to God's grace and mercy. For
which reason the Church hath placed this confession at the
"beginning of the service, for the whole congregation to re-
peat after the minister, that so we may first be witnesses of
each other's confession, before we unite in the following ser-
vice. And this, as we learn from St. Basil, is consonant to
the practice of the primitive Christians ; " who (he tells us)
in all churches, immediately upon their entering into the house
of prayer, made confession of their sins to God, with much
sorrow, concern, and tears, every man pronouncing his own
confession with his own mouth." 1(
. 2. As to the form itself, it is blamed by
A uiwlred 0n our sectaries for being too general: and yet it
is so particular, as to contain all that can be ex-
pressed. It begins with an acknowledgment of our original
corruption in the wicked devices and desires of our hearts,
and then descends to actual guilt, which it divides into sins
of omission and commission, under which two heads all sins
whatever must necessarily be reduced. So that every single
person, who makes this general confession with his lips, may
at the same time mentally unfold the plague of his own heart,
his particular sins, whatever they be, as effectually to God,
who searches the heart, as if he enumerated them in the most
ample form. And indeed had this form been more particular
or express, it would not so well have answered the end for
which it was designed : for a common confession ought to be
so contrived, that every person present may truly speak it as
his own case; whereas a confession drawn up according to
the mind of the objectors, would be but little less than an in-
quisition, forcing those, that join in it to accuse and condemn
themselves of those sins daily, which perhaps they never
committed in their lives.
SECT. IV. Of the Absolution.
THE congregation being now humbled by the
H ued' l here bly preceding confession, may justly be supposed to
stand in need of consolation. And therefore
Exr U. 5, 6. Dan. ix. 4,5. ' Bwil. *d Clenun Neocteiarieni. En. 63. torn. U.
p. 843, D.
SECT, tv.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 115
since God has committed to his ambassadors the ministry of
reconciliation, 11 they can never more seasonably exercise it
than now. For this reason the priest immediately rises from
his knees, and standing up, as with authority, declares and
pronounces for their comfort and support, that God, who de-
sires not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn
from his wickedness and live, pardoneth and absolveth all
them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy
Gospel.
. 2. Now whether this be only a declaration
of the condition, or terms, whereupon God is ^^gffec" 6 ^
willing to pardon sinners ; or whether it be an
actual conveyance of pardon, at the very instant of pro-
nouncing it, to all that come within the terms proposed, is a
question that is often the subject of dispute. With the ut-
most deference therefore to the judgment of those who are
of a different opinion, I beg leave to declare for the last of
these senses : not that I ascribe any judicial power or au-
thority to the priest to determine the case of a private man,
so as to apply God's pardon or forgiveness directly to the
conscience of any particular or definite sinner ; (my notion
as to this will be seen hereafter ; 18 ) nor do I suppose that the
priest, when he pronounces this form, can apply the benefit
of it to whom he pleases ; or that he so much as knows upon
whom, or upon how many, it shall take effect ; but all that I
contend for is only this, viz. that since the priest has the
ministry of reconciliation 19 committed to him by God, and
hath both power and commandment (as it is expressed in
this form) to declare and pronounce to his people, being
penitent, the absolution and remission of their sins ; there-
fore, when he does, by virtue of this power and command-
ment, declare and pronounce such absolution and remission
regularly in the congregation ; those in the congregation that
truly repent and unfeignedly believe God's holy Gospel,
(though the priest does not know who or how many they are
that do so,) have yet their pardon conveyed and sealed to
them at that very instant through his ministration ; it being
the ordinary method of God with his Church, to commu-
nicate his blessings through the ministry of the priest.
17 2 Cor. v. 18, 19. See chap. 2, concerning the Order for the Visitation of the
Sick, sect. 5. For the consistency of my notions in both these places, I must beg the
reader to turn at the same time to what I have said in the preface. w 2 Cor. v. 18, 19.
I 2
116 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. m.
I am sensible that this is carrying the point higher than
many that have delivered their judgments before me. Even
the learned translator of St. Cyprian's works, who contends
that this is an authoritative form, yet explains himself to
mean nothing more by authoritative, than that it is " an act
of office warranted by God, and pursuant to the commission
which the priest hath received for publishing authoritatively
the terms of pardon at large and in general, and then for pro-
nouncing by the same authority, that when those terms are
fulfilled, the pardon is granted." w But this explanation
seems only to make it an authoritative declaration, and not
to suppose (as, with submission to this gentleman, I take both
the rubric and form to imply) that it is an effective form,
conveying as well as declaring a pardon to those that are duly
qualified to receive it. My reasons for this I shall have
another occasion to give immediately : for though what this
learned gentleman asserts does not come up to my notion of
the form ; yet it is a great deal more than another learned
author is willing to allow ; who does not seem to think the
form to be authoritative in any sense at all, or that there is
any need of a commission to pronounce it. For " it may be
asked," saith the Rev. Dr. Beunet upon this place, " whether
a mere deacon may pronounce this form of absolution : and
to this," saith he, " I answer, that in my judgment he may."
The reason that he gives for it is, that he cannot but think it
manifest, that this form of absolution is only declaratory . that
it is only saying, That all penitent sinners are pardoned by God
upon their repentance : and consequently that a mere deacon
has as much authority to speak every part of this form, as he
has to say, When tlie nicked man turneth away from his
wickedness, Sec., which is the first of the sentences appointed
to be read before morning prayer : nay, that a mere deacon
has as much authority to pronounce this form, as he has to
preach a sermon about repentance. And that therefore it
seems to be a vulgar mistake, which makes the deacons devi-
ate from their rule, and omit either the whole, or else a part
of this form, or perhaps exchange it for a collect taken out of
some other part of the Liturgy."* 1
But now, with submission to the learned
IKsiffned by the , _ , , , .
church to be doctor, I beg leave to observe, that tnis form is
*' See Dr. Marshal'* preface to hU translation of St. Cyprian. Dr. Bcnnet on
the Common Prayer, p. 27.
SECT, iv.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 117
expressly called by the rubric, The Absolution more than de-
or Remission of Sins. It is not called a De- clarative -
claration of Absolution, as one would think it should have
been, if it had been designed for no more ; but it is positively
and emphatically called THE Absolution, to denote that it is
really an absolution of sins to those that are entitled to it by
repentance and faith.
Again, the terms used to express the priest's delivering or
declaring it, is a very solemn one : it is to be pronounced
(saith the rubric) by the priest alone. A word which signifies
much more than merely to make known, or declare a thing ;
for the Latin pronuncio, from whence it is taken, signifies
properly to pronounce or give sentence : and therefore the
word pronounced^ here used, must signify that this is a sen-
tence of absolution or remission of sins, to be authoritatively
uttered by one who has received commission from God.
But further, if the repeating this Absolution be no more
than saying, That all penitent sinners are pardoned by God
upon their repentance, as the learned doctor affirms ; I can-
not conceive to what end it should be placed just after the
Confession ; for as much as this, the doctor himself tells us,
is said before it, viz. in the first of the sentences appointed to
be read before morning or evening prayer, When the wicked
man turneth away from his wickedness, &c., and there I
think indeed more properly : for such a declaration may be a
great encouragement to draw men to confession and repent-
ance; but after they have confessed and repented, the use of
it, I think, is not so great. It is indeed a comfort to us to
know that God will pardon us upon our repentance : but then
it must be supposed that the hope of this pardon is one chief
ground of our repentance ; and therefore it cannot be imagin-
ed that the Church should tell us that after the Confession,
which it is necessary we should know before it, as being the
principal motive we have to confess.
All that I know can be said against this (though the doctor
indeed does not urge so much) is, that " after the minister has
declared the absolution and remission of the people's sins, he
goes on to exhort them to pray and beseech God to grant
them true repentance, &c., which repentance is necessary, it
may be said, beforehand, in order to their pardon ; because
God pardoneth and absolveth none but those who truly re-
pent. And therefore since the minister here exhorts the peo-
118 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
pie to pray for repentance after he has pronounced the abso-
lution and remission of their sins ; it may be thought that the
absolution does not convey a pardon, but only promises them
one upon their repentance." But in answer to this, we may
grant in the first place, that one part of repentance, viz. the.
acknowledging and confessing of our sins, must be performed
before we are pardoned ; since, unless we acknowledge that
we have transgressed God's laws, we do not own that we
stand in need of his pardon. And for this reason the Church
orders the people to make their confession, before she directs
the priest to pronounce the Absolution. But then there are
two other parts of repentance, which are as necessary after
our sins are forgiven us, as they are before ; and they are
contrition and amendment of life : for first, contrition (by
which I mean the lamenting or looking back with sorrow upon
our sins) is certainly necessary even after they are forgiven
us : since to be pleased with the remembrance of them, would
be (as far as lies in our power) to act those sins over again,
and consequently, though God himself should at any time have
declared them pardoned with his own mouth, yet such repe-
tition of them would render even that absolution ineffectual.
And, secondly, as to endeavours after amendment of life, if
there be any difference, they are certainly more necessary
after our former sins are forgiven than before ; because God's
mercy in pardoning us is a new obligation upon us to live
well, and is what will enhance our guilt, if we offend after-
wards. And therefore our being pardoned ought to make us
pray the more vehemently for repentance, and God's holy
Spirit; lest, if we should return to our sins again, a worse
thing should happen unto us. From all which it appears, that
though repentance be a necessary disposition to pardon, so as
that neither God will, nor man can, absolve those that are
impenitent; yet, in some parts of it, it is a necessary conse-
quent of pardon, insomuch as that he who is pardoned ought
still to repent, as well as he who seeks a pardon : and if so, then
the praying for repentance after the minister has declared a
pardon, is no argument that such declaration does not convey
a pardon.
But, secondly, the design of the Church in this place is, not
only to exhort the congregation to repentance, by declaring
to them that God will forgive and pardon their sins when they
shall repent, but also to convey an instant pardon from God, by
SECT, iv.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 1 19
the mouth of the priest, to as many as do, at that time, truly
repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel; seems evident
from the former part of the Absolution, where the priest reads
his commission before he executes his authority. For this
part would be wholly needless, if no more was intended by
the Absolution than what Dr. Bennet tells us, viz. " a bare
declaration, that all penitent sinners are pardoned by God upon
their repentance ; " for since, as he himself confesses, there is
no more contained in such a declaration than what is implied
in the first of the sentences before morning prayer, it will be
very difficult to account why the Church should usher it in
with so solemn a proclamation of what power and command-
ment God has given to his ministers. But since the Church
has directed the priest to make known to the people, that God
has given power and commandment to his ministers to de-
clare and pronounce to his people, being penitent, the absolu-
tion and remission of their sins ; it is very reasonable to sup-
pose that, when in the next words the priest declares that
God pardoneth and absolveth all those who truly repent, and
unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel, he does, in the intent of
the Church, exercise that power, and obey that commandment,
which God has given him.
But, lastly, the persons to whom this absolution must be
pronoxmced, is another convincing proof that it is more than
merely declarative. For if it implied no more than that all
sinners are pardoned by God upon their repentance ; it might
as well be pronounced to such as continue in their sins, as to
those that have repented of them: nay, it would be more pro-
per and advantageous to be pronounced to the former than
to the latter ; because, as I have observed, such a declaration
might be a great inducement to forward their conversion.
But yet we see that this form is not to be pronounced to such
as the Church desires should repent, but to those who have
repented. The absolution and remission of sins, which the
priest here declares and pronounces from God, is declared
and pronounced to his people being penitent, \. e. to those
who are penitent at the very time of pronouncing the absolu-
tion. For as to those who are impenitent, the priest is not
here said to have any power or commandment relating to
them : they are quite left out, as persons not fit or proper to
have this commission executed in their behalf. From all
which it is plain, that this absolution is more than declarative,
120 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAF. in.
that it is truly effective ; insuring and conveying to the proper
subjects thereof the very absolution or remission itself. It is
as much a bringing of God's pardon to the penitent member
of Christ's Church, and as effectual to his present benefit, as
an authorized messenger bringing a pardon from his sovereign
to a condemned penitent criminal, is effectual to his present
pardon and release from the before appointed punishment.
It is indeed drawn up in a declarative form ; and consider-
ing it is to be pronounced to a mixed congregation, it could
not well have been drawn up in any other. For the minister,
not knowing who are sincere, and who are feigned penitents,
is not allowed to prostitute so sacred an ordinance amongst
the good and bad promiscuously ; but is directed to assure
those only of a pardon rvho truly repent, and unfeignedly
believe God's holy Gospel. But then to these, as may be
gathered from what has been said, I take it to be as full and
effective an absolution as any that can be given.
Not to be pro- ^' ^ nc ^ ^ 8O t ^ len ^ e 9i ue8 ti on * ne learned
nouncedbya doctor here introduces, must receive a different
answer from what he has given it. For deacons
were never commissioned by the Church to give absolution in
any of its forms : and therefore when a deacon omits the whole
or part of this form, he does not deviate from his rule, as the
doctor asserts, but prudently declines to use an authority which
he never received ; and which he is expressly forbid to use in
this place by the rubric prefixed, which orders the Absolution
to be pronounced by the priest alone. I am very readily in-
clined to acknowledge with the doctor, that the word alone
was designed to serve as a directory to the people, not to re-
peat the words after the minister, as they had been directed to
do in the preceding Confession ; but silently to attend till the
priest has pronounced it, and then, by a hearty and fervent
Amen, to testify their faith in the benefits conveyed by it.
But then as to what the doctor goes on to assert, that " the
word priest does in this place signify, not one that is in priest's
orders, as we generally speak, but any minister that officiates,
whether priest or deacon ;" I think I have very good reason
to dissent from him. For the signification of a word is cer-
tainly to be best learnt from the persons that impose it. Now
though it be true that in king Edward's second Common
Prayer Book, (which was the first that had the Absolution in
it,) and in all the other books till the restoration of king
SECT, iv.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 121
Charles, the word in the rubric was minister, and not priest ;
yet in the review that followed immediately after the Restora-
tion, priest was inserted in the room of minister, and that
with a full and direct design to exclude deacons from being
meai?t by it. For at the Savoy Conference, the presbyterian
divines (that were appointed by the king to treat with the
bishops about the alterations that were to be made in the Com-
mon Prayer) had desired that, as the word minister was used
in the Absolution, and in divers other places ; it
might also be used throughout the whole book, SiJtotaiSS
instead of the word priest. 32 But to this the stood exclusive of
bishop's answer wjis very peremptory and full,
viz. It is not reasonable that the word minister should be
only used in the Liturgy : for since some parts of the Li-
turgy may be performed by a deacon, others by none under
the order of a priest, viz. Absolution, Consecration ; it is Jit
that some such word as priest should be used for those offices,
and not minister, which signifies at large every one that mi-
nisters in the holy office, of what order soever he be.- 3 And
agreeable to this answer, when they came to make the neces-
sary alterations in the Liturgy, they not only refused to change
priest for minister, but also threw out the word minister, and
put priest in the room of it, even in this rubric before the
Absolution. So that it is undeniably plain, that by this rubric
deacons are expressly forbid to pronounce this form ; since
the word priest in this place (if interpreted according to the
intent of those that inserted it) is expressly limited to one in
priest's orders, and does not comprehend any minister that
officiates, whether priest or deacon, as Dr. Bennet asserts. I
therefore could wish that the doctor would take some decent
opportunity to withdraw that countenance, which I know some
deacons are apt to take from his opinion, which has much
contributed to the spreading of a practice which was seldom
or never known before. The doctor indeed, in the conclusion
of the whole, declares that " he is far from desiring any per-
son to be determined by him : and entreats the deacons to
consult their ordinaries, and to follow their directions, which
M See the exceptions against the Book of Common Prayer, . 11, p. 6, in a quarto
treatise, entitled, An Account of all the Proceedings of the Commissioners of both
Persuasions, appointed by his sacred Majesty, according to Letters Patent, for the Re-
view of the Book of Common Prayer, &c. London, printed in the year 16G1 ; and in
Mr. Baxter's Narrative, p. 318. *> See the papers that passed between the commis-
sioners appointed by his Majesty for the alteration of the Common Prayer, (annexed
to the aforesaid account,) p. 57, 58.
122 OP THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. m.
in such disputable matters (as these) are the best rule of con-
science." But as to this it should be considered, that the
rubric being established by act of parliament, the ordinaries
themselves (whom the doctor advises the deacons to consult
about it) have no power to authorize them to use this form,
any otherwise than by giving them priest's orders : since their
authority reaches no further than to doubtful cases, 24 and this,
I think, appears now to be a clear one.
The priest to ^- ^ ne P^est ia required to pronounce the
stand, and the Absolution standing, because it is an act of his
people to kneel. authority in declaring the will of God, whose
ambassador he is. But the people are to continue kneeling,
in token of that humility and reverence witB which they ought
to receive the joyful news of a pardon from God.
SECT. V. Of the Rubric after the Absolution.
IMMEDIATELY after the Absolution in the morning service,
follows this general rubric :
^f The people shall answer here, and at the end of all other
prayers, Amen.
The word here enjoined to be used is origin-
A ?iifies at U a % Hebrew, and signifies the same in English
as So be it. But the word itself has been retained
in all languages, to express the assent of the person that pro-
nounces it, to that to which he returns it as an answer. As it
is used in the Common Prayer Book, it bears different signi-
fications, according to the different forms to which it is an-
nexed. At the end of prayers and collects, it is addressed to
God, and signifies, " So be it, Lord, as in our prayers we
have expressed." But at the end of Exhortations, Absolu-
tions, and Creeds, it is addressed to the priest, and then the
meaning of it is either, " So be it, this is our sense and mean-
ing: " or, " So be it, we entirely assent to and approve of what
has been said."
HOW regarded by . 2 - When this assent was given by the primi-
the primitive tive Christians at their public offices, they pro-
nounced it so heartily that St. Jerome compares
it to thunder : " They echo out the Amen," saith he, " like a
thunder-clap : " M and Clemens Alexandrinus tells us, that " at
the last acclamations of their prayers, they raised themselves
14 See the preface concerning the Service of the Church. *> Hieron. in 2 Proecm.
Com. In Galat.
SECT, vi.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 123
upon their tip-toes, (for on Sundays and on all days between
Easter and Whitsuntide they prayed standing,) as if they de-
sired that that word should carry up their bodies as well as
their souls to heaven." 26
. 3. In our present Common Prayer Book it
is observable, that the Amen is sometimes printed
in one character and sometimes in another. The man and some -
reason of which I take to be this : at the end of "
all the collects and prayers, which the priest is to repeat or
say alone, it is printed in Italic, a different character from the
prayers themselves, to denote, I suppose, that the minister is
to stop at the end of the prayer, and to leave the Amen for
the people to respond : but at the end of the Lord's Prayer,
Confessions, Creeds, &c., and wheresoever the people are to
join aloud with the minister, as if taught and instructed by him
what to say, there it is printed in Koman, i. e. in the same cha-
racter with the Confessions and Creeds themselves, as a hint to
the minister that he is still to go on, and by pronouncing the
Amen himself, to direct the people to do the same, and so to
set their seal at last to what they had been before pronouncing.
.4. By the people being directed by this ru- Thepeoplenot
brie to answer Amen at the end of the prayers, to repeat the
they might easily perceive that they are expected prayers aloud -
to be silent in the prayers themselves, and only to go along
with the minister in their minds. For the minister is the ap-
pointed intercessor for the people, and consequently it is his
office to offer up their prayers and praises in their behalf: in-
somuch that the people have nothing more to do than to at-
tend to what he says, and to declare their assent by an Amen
at last, without disturbing those that are near them by mut-
tering over the collects in a confused manner, as is practised
by too many in most congregations, contrary to common
sense, as well as decency and good manners.
SECT. VI. Of the Lord's Prayer.
WHAT hath hitherto been done is, for the most L ord - s p ray er,
part, rather a preparation to prayer, than prayer how proper at
itself: but now we begin with the Lord's Prayer, "
with which the office itself began in the first book of king
Edward VI. But our reformers at the review of it (as has
already been observed) thought it proper to add what now
86 Stromat. 1. 7.
124 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. m.
precedes it, as judging it perhaps not so decent to call God
Our Father ', before we repent of cur disobedience against him.
The necessity of using it I have already proved ; " and shall
now only observe, that its being drawn up by our glorious
Advocate, who knew both his Father's sufficiency and our
wants, may assure us, that it contains every thing fit for us to
ask, or his Father to grant. For which cause it is, and ought
to be, added to all our forms and offices to make up their de-
fects, and to recommend them to our heavenly Father ; who,
if he cannot deny us when we ask in his Son's name, can
much less do so when we speak in his rcords also. 49
. 2. The Doxology was appointed by the last
wily ^meunves review to be used in this place, partly, I suppose,
used, and some- because many copies of St. Matthew have it, and
the Greek Fathers expound it ; and partly, be-
cause the office here is a matter of praise, it being used im-
mediately after the Absolution. But since St. Luke leaves it
out, and some copies of St. Matthew, and most of the Latin
Fathers ; therefore we also omit it in some places, where the
offices are not direct acts of thanksgiving.
. 3. Here, and wherever else this prayer is
peat ?he P Lord's e use d, tne whole congregation is to join with the
Prayer aloud minister in an audible voice ; partly that people
irith the minis- jg norant iy educated may the sooner learn it ; and
partly to signify how boldly we may approach
the Father, when we address him with the Son's words.
Though till the last review there was no such direction ; it
having been the custom till then, for the minister to say the
Lord's prayer alone, in most of the offices, and for the people
only to answer at the end of it, by way of response, Deliver
us from evil. And the better to prepare and give them no-
tice of what they were to do, the minister was used to elevate
and raise his voice, when he came to the petition, Lead us
not into temptation, just as it is done still in the Roman
Church, where the priest always pronounces the conclusion
of every prayer with a voice louder than ordinary, that the
people may know when to join their Amen.
SECT. VII. Of the Responses.
The deS(rn of IT was a very ancient practice of the Jews to
reponte. rec j te faeir public hymns and prayers by course:
7: Introduction, p. 3, 4, tie. Cyprian, de Oral. p. 139, 140.
SECT, vii.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 125
and many of the Fathers assure us, that the primitive Chris-
tians imitated them therein : so that there is no old Liturgy
wherein there are not such short and devout sentences as
these, which, from the people's answering the priests, are
called responses. The design of them is, by a grateful va-
riety, to quicken the people's devotions, and engage their at-
tention : for since they have their share of duty, they must ex-
pect till their turn come, and prepare for the next response :
whereas, when the minister does all, the people naturally grow
sleepy and heedless, as if they were wholly unconcerned.
. 2. The responses here enjoined consist of
prayers and praises: the first, O Lord, open thou, &c rd> pen
thou our lips, and our mouth shall shew forth R - And our
.7 * ' c . , T -i mouth shall, &c.
thy praise, are very frequent in ancient Litur-
gies, particularly in those of St. James and St. Chrysostom,
and are fitly placed here with respect to those sins we lately
confessed : for they are part of David's penitential psalm, 29
who looked on his guilt so long, till the grief, shame, and fear,
which followed thereupon, had almost sealed up his lips, and
made him speechless ; so that he could not praise God as he
desired, unless it pleased him, by speaking peace to his soul,
to remove those terrors, and then his lips would be opened,
and his mouth ready to praise God. And if we were as sens-
ible of our guilt as we ought to be, it will be needful for us
to beg such evidences of our pardon, as may free us from the
terrors which seal up our lips, and then we shall be fit to
praise God heartily in the following psalms.
. 3. The words that follow, viz. God, make
speed to save us , O Lord, make haste to help sp ' e ed, &c.' "'
us, are of ancient use in the Western Church. * as ^ e L ^ d ' make
When with David we look back to the innumer-
able evils which have taken hold of us, we cry to God to save
us speedily from them by his mercy ; and when we look for-
ward to the duties we are about to do, we pray as earnestly,
in the words of the same Psalmist, 30 that he will make haste
to help us by his grace ; without which we can do no accept-
able service.
. 4. And now having good confidence that Tt
, . . , p. o -. . , .,, y. Glory be to
our pardon is granted ; like David, we turn our the Father, &c.
petitions into praises : standing up to denote the ^ e ' J |nn\nf l & c the
elevation of our hearts, and giving glory to the
Psalm li. 15. Psalm Ixx. 1. Psalm vi. 9. cxxx. 1.
126 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
whole Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the hopes
we entertain.
In the primitive times almost every Father had his own
Doxologies, which they expressed as they had occasion in
their own phrases and terms ; ascribing glory and honour, &c.
sometimes to the Father only, and sometimes only to the Son ;
sometimes to the Father through the Son, and sometimes to
the Father with the Son : sometimes to the Spirit jointly
with both, and sometimes through or in the Spirit to either ;
sometimes through the Son to the Father with the Holy
Ghost, and sometimes to the Father and Holy Ghost with
the Son. For they all knew that there were three distinct,
but undivided Persons, in one eternal and infinite essence ;
and therefore whilst they rendered glory from this principle
of faith, whatever the form of Doxology was, the meaning and
design of it was always the same. But when the Arians be-
gan to wrest some of these general expressions in countenance
and vindication of their impious opinions, and to fix chiefly
upon that form, which was the most capable of being abused
to an heretical sense, viz. Glory to the Father, by the Son, in
the Holy Ghost , this and the other forms grew generally into
disuse ; and that which ascribes glory to the Holy Ghost, as
well as to the Father and the Son, from that time became the
standing form of the Church. So that the Doxology we meet
with in the ancient Liturgies is generally thus : Glory be to
the FatJier, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, now and
ever, world without end . and so it continues still in the offices
of the Greek Church : but the Western Church soon after-
wards added the words, As it was in the beginning, not only
to oppose the poison of the Arians, who said, there was a
beginning of time before Christ had any beginning, but also
to declare that this was the primitive form, and the old ortho-
dox way of praising God. 32
8. 5. Having now concluded our penitential
y. Praise ye the ? e
Lord. R. The office, we begin the office ot praises; as an m-
tr duction to which the priest exhorts us to
Praise the Lord: the people, to shew their
readiness to join with him, immediately reply, let the Lord's
name be praised ; though this answer of the people was first
added to the Scotch Liturgy, and then to our own, at the last
review.
a Concil. Vasens. c. 3, torn. ii. col. 727, E.
SECT, vin.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 127
The first of these versicles, viz. Praise ye the
Lord, is no other than the English of Hallelujah ,- Of S alle -
a word so sacred, that St. John retains it, 33 and
St. Austin saith the Church scrupled to translate it ; ^ a word
appointed to be used in all the Liturgies I ever met with : in
some of them upon all days in the year except those of fast-
ing and humiliation ; but in others only upon Sundays and
the fifty days between Easter and Whitsuntide, in token of
the joy we express for Christ's resurrection. 35 In our own
Church, notwithstanding we repeat the sense of it every day
in English ; yet the word itself was retained in the first book
of king Edward VI., where it was appointed to be used im-
mediately after the versicles here mentioned, from Easter to
Trinity Sunday. How it came to be left out afterwards I
cannot tell ; except it was because those who had the care of
altering our Liturgy, thought the repetition of the word itself
was needless, since the sense of it was implied in the forego-
ing versicles : though the Church always took it for something
more than a bare repetition of Praise ye the Lord. For in
those words the minister calls only upon the congregation to
praise God ; whereas in this he was thought to invite the holy
angels also to join with the congregation, and to second our
praises below with their divine Hallelujahs above.
. 6. Some have objected against the dividing
of our prayers into such small parts and versi- Obj s e wer ed. an
cles : but to this we answer, That though there
be an alteration and division in the utterance, yet the prayer
is but one continued form. For though the Church requires
that the minister speak one portion, and the people the other;
yet both the minister and the people ought mentally to offer
up and speak to God, what is vocally offered up and spoken
by each of them respectively.
SECT. VIIL Of the Ninety-fifth Psalm.
THE matter of this psalm shews it was designed
at first for the public service ; on the feast of ta- ^
bernacles, as some, M or on the Sabbath-day, as
others think ; 37 but St. Paul judges it fit for every day, while
it is called to-day, 3S and so it has been used in all the Chris-
M Rev. xix. 1, 3, 4, 6, &c. >* De Doctrina Christiana, lib. ii. cap. 11, torn. iii. col.
25, B. August. Ep. 119, ad Jan. cap. 15, et 17. Isidor. de Eccl. Offic. lib. i. c. 13.
36 Grotius in Psalm xcv. s ' Calvin in Psalm xcv. M Heb. iii. 7, 15.
128 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
tian world ; as the Liturgies of St. Chrysostom and St. Basil
witness for the Greek Church, the testimony of St. Augustin
for the African, 39 and all its ancient offices and capitulars for
the Western. St. Ambrose saith, that it was the use of the
Church in his time to begin their service with it: 40 for which
reason in the Latin services it is called the Invitatory Psalm ;
it being always sung with a strong and loud voice, to hasten
those people into the church, who were in the cemetery or
churchyard, or any other adjacent parts, waiting for the be-
ginning of prayers : 41 agreeable to which practice, in the first
book of king Edward it is ordered to be said, or sung, with-
out any (i. e. I suppose without any other) invitatory.
. 2. Our reformers very fitly placed it here
^ hyi p 8 kce mthl8 as a proper preparatory to the following psalms,
lessons, and collects. For it exhorts us, first, to
praise God, shewing us in what manner and for what reasons
we ought to do it ; 42 secondly, it exhorts us to pray to him,
shewing us also the manner and reasons. 43 Lastly, it exhorts
us to hear God's word speedily and willingly, 44 giving us a
caution to beware of hardening our hearts, by an instance of
the sad event which happened to the Jews on that account, 45
whose sin and punishment are set before us, that we may not
destroy our souls, by despising and distrusting God's word as
they did. 46 For which warning we bless the holy Trinity,
saying, Glory be to the Father, &c.
SECT. IX. Of the Psalms.
AND now, if we have performed the foregoing parts of the
Liturgy as we ought, we shall be fitly disposed to
T]7 sing the Psalrns of David with his own spirit. For
ext. , 111 j i i
all that hath been done hitherto was to tune our
hearts, that we may say, O God, our hearts are ready, me mill
inr/ and give praise" For having confessed humbly, begged
forgiveness earnestly, and received the news of our absolution
thankfully ; we shall be naturally filled with contrition and
lowliness, and with desires of breathing up our souls to heaven.
And this, St. Basil tells us, 4 * was a rite that in his time had
obtained among all the Churches of God : " After the Confes-
sion," saith he, " the people rise from prayer, and proceed to
Serm. 17(i. de Verb. Apoat.c. 1, torn. v. col. 839, E. Serm. de Deip. *' Durand.
de Dlvin. Oflic. Rational. 1. 5, c. 3. numb. II, fol. ^27. Ver. 15. Ver. 6. 7.
Ver. 8. >Ver. 8 II. Ver. 10, 11. ' Psalm cviii. 1. ** Basil, Ep. 63,
torn. il. p. 843.
SECT, ix.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 129
psalmody, dividing themselves into two parts, and singing by
turns." For the performance of which we can have no greater
or properer assistance than the Book of Psalms, which is a
collection of prayers and praises indited by the Holy Spirit,
composed by devout men on various occasions, and so suited
to public worship, that they are used by Jews as well as Chris-
tians. And though the several parties of Christians differ in
many other things ; yet in this they all agree. They contain
variety of devotions, agreeable to all degrees and conditions
of men ; insomuch that, without much difficulty, every man
may, either directly or by way of accommodation, apply most
of them to his own case.
. 2. For which cause the Church useth these trsedoftenerthan
oftener than any other part of Scripture. Nor any other pan of
can she herein be accused of novelty : since it is Ba * ttiafc
certain the temple-service consisted chiefly of forms taken out
of the Psalms; 49 and the prayers of the modern Jews also
are mostly gathered from thence. 50 The Christians undoubt-
edly used them in their public service in the times of the
Apostles ; 51 and in the following ages they were repeated so
often at the church, that the meanest Christians could rehearse
them, by heart at their ordinary work. 52
. 3. But now it is objected, that " it cannot whether an the
reasonably be supposed that all the members of mfx^congTega-
mixed congregations can be fit to use some ex- tion may properly
. , , a ,-. 1,1 , , . use some expres-
pressions in the Psalms, so as to make them their ttons in the
own words ; because very few have attained to Psalms -
such a degree of piety and goodness as David and the other
Psalmists make profession of : and that therefore the Book of
Psalms is not now a proper part of divine service."
To which it is answered : That so long as men continue in
a wicked course of life, they are not only unfit for the use of
the Psalms, but of any other devotions : they are not only
incapable of applying such passages in the Psalms to their own
persons ; but they cannot so much as repeat a penitential
Psalm, or even the confession of sins in the Liturgy, in a
proper and agreeable manner : since he that does this as he
ought, must do it with resolutions of amendment. But then
as to those who have sincerely repented, and in earnest begun
* 1 Chron. xvi. 137. xxv. 1, 2. *> Buxtorf. Synag. Judaic, cap. 10. 1 Cor.
xiv. 26. Col. in. 16. James v. 13. & Vid. Chrys. Horn. 6, de Pceniten. torn. v. col.
741, D. in a Latin edition printed at Paris, 1588.
K
130 OP THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
a virtuous course of life ; no reason can be given why they
may not unite their hearts and voices with the Church, in re-
hearsing these Psalms. For we may very aptly take a great
part of the Psalter as the address of the whole Church to
Almighty God ; and then no doubt but every sincere member
of this body may perform his part in this pious consort. Every
true Christian may, and must say, that the Church, whereof
he professes himself a member, w all glorious within, (i. e.
adorned with all manner of inward graces and excellences,)
though no Christian that is humble will presume to say so of
himself. Perhaps the very best men do not think such ele-
vated expressions fit to be applied to their single lives, or per-
sonal performances : but yet any sincere Christian may very
well join in the public use of these parts of the Psalter, when
he considers that what he says, or sings, is the voice of the
Church universal ; and that, as he has but a small share of
those virtues and perfections, which are the ornament of the
Church, the body of Christ ; so his tongue is but one, amongst
those innumerable choirs of Christians throughout the world.
And there is no reason to doubt but that David did in some
Psalms speak as the representative of the Church, as in others
he expresses himself in the person of Christ : and therefore a
devout man may also as well use these Psalms in his closet as
in the church ; if so be he consider himself, notwithstanding
his retirement, as one of that large and vast body, who serve
and worship God, according to these forms, night and day.
But to return :
. 4. The custom of singing or repeating the
^course* 1 * 7 P 8 ^ 8 alternately, or verse by verse, seems to
be as old as Christianity itself. Nor is there
any question to be made but that the Christians received it
from the Jews ; for it is plain that several of the Psalms,
which were composed for the public use of the temple, were
written in amoebfeick, or alternate verse. 63 To which way of
singing used in the temple, it is probable the vision of Isaiah
alluded, which he saw of the seraphim crying one to another,
Holy, holy, holy, &c." That it was the constant practice of
the Church in the time of St. Basil, we have his own testi-
mony : for he writes," that the people in his time, " rising
before it was light, went to the house of prayer, and there,
" As the cxtvth and ci vitith, 8cc. " Iiaiah viii. 3. Ep. ad Clcrura Neocaes.
Ep. 63, torn. ii. p. 843, D. Vide et Const. Ap. 1. ii. c. 57.
IECT. ix.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 131
in great agony of soul, and incessant showers of tears, made
confession of their sins to God : and then rising" from their
prayers, proceeded to singing of psalms, dividing themselves
into two parts, and singing by turns." Ever since which time
it has been thought so reasonable and decent, as to be uni-
versally practised. What Theodoret writes, 56 that Flavianus
and Diodorus were the first that ordered the Psalms of David
to be sung alternately at Antioch, seems not to be meant of
the first institution of this custom, but only of the restoring
of it, or else of the appointing some more convenient way of
doing it. Isidore says, 57 that St. Ambrose was the first that
introduced this custom among the Latins ; but this too must
be understood only in relation to some alterations that were
then made ; for pope Cselestine, as we read in his life, applied
the Psalms to be sung alternately at the celebration of the
eucharist. This practice, so primitive and devout, our Church
(though there is no particular rubric to enjoin it) still con-
tinues in her service either by singing, as in our cathedral
worship ; or by saying, as in the parochial. For in the former,
when one side of the choir sing to the other, they both pro-
voke and relieve each other's devotion : they provoke it (as
Tertullian * 8 remarks) by a holy contention, and relieve it by
a mutual supply and change ; for which reasons, in the paro-
chial service, the reading of the Psalms is also divided be-
tween the minister and the people. And indeed did not the
congregation bear their part, to what end does the minister
exhort them to praise the Lord? or what becomes of their
promise, that their mouths shall shew forth his praise ? To
what end again is the invitatory (O come, let tis sing unto the
Lord, &c.) placed before the Psalms, if the people are to have
no share in praising him in the Psalms that follow ?
. 5. Nor does the use of musical instruments
/.i ill i Musical instru-
mtne singing of psalms appear to be less ancient me ntsusedin
than the custom itself of sinking them. The first singing of
T> i j p j.- i_ i psalms.
Psalm we read of was sung to a timbrel, viz.
that which Moses and Miriam sang after the deliverance of
the children of Israel from Egypt. 59 And afterwards at Jeru-
salem, when the temple was built, musical instruments were
constantly used at their public services. 60 Most of David's
M Hist. Eccl. 1. U. c. 24. " Isidor. de Offic. 1. i. c. 7. <* Sonant inter duos psalmi
et hymni, et mutuo provocant quis melius Deo suo cantet : Talia Christus videns et
audiens gaudet. Tert. ad Uxor.ad nnem.1.2, p. 172, B. M Exod. xv. 20.
<w 2 Sam. vi. 5. 1 Chron. xv. 1C. 2 Chron. v. 12. and xxix. 25.
K 2
132 OP THE ORDER FOR [CBAP. m.
Psalms, we see by the titles of them, were committed to
masters of music to be set to various tunes : and in the hun-
dred and fiftieth Psalm especially, the prophet calls upon
the people to prepare their different kinds of instruments
wherewith to praise the Lord. And this has been the con-
stant practice of the Church, in most ages, as well since as
before the coming of Christ. 61
When organs were first brought into use, is
rg ch n urches to not clearl J known : but we find it recorded that
about the year 766, Constantius Copronymus,
emperor of Constantinople, sent a present of an organ to king
Pepin of France : 62 and it is certain that the use of them has
been very common now for several hundred of years ; Durand
mentioning them several times in his book, but giving no inti-
mation of their novelty in divine service.
The psalm* to ' 6 " When W6 re P Cat the P 8alm8 and hvmnS
be repeated we stand ; that, by the erection of our bodies,
we may express the elevation or lifting up of our
souls to God. Though another reason of our standing is, be-
cause some parts of them are directed to God, and others are
not : as therefore it would be very improper to kneel at those
parts which are not directed to him ; so it would be very in-
decent to sit, when we repeat those that are. And therefore
because both these parts, viz. those which are and those which
are not directed to God, are so frequently altered, and mingled
one with another, that the most suitable posture for each of
them cannot always be used, standing is prescribed as a pos-
ture which best suits both together ; which is also consonant
to the practice of the Jewish Church recorded in the Scrip-
ture. For we read, 63 that while the priests and Levites were
offering up praises to God, all Israel stood. And we learn
from the ritualists of the Christian Church, 64 that when they
came to the Psalms, they always shewed the affection of their
souls by this posture of their bodies.
. 7. At the end of every Psalm, and of every
^platedat^ P art f the hundred and nineteenth Psalm*
end of all the and all the Hymns, (except the Te Deum;
hymns'. * nd which, because it is nothing else almost but the
Gloria Patri enlarged, hath not this doxology
'' Basil, in Psalm, i. torn. i. p. 126, B. Euseb. Hlstor. Eccles. lib. 2, c. 17, p. 57. C.
, A.
s. Areop. de Eccles. Hier. c. 3, p. 89, D. laid. Peleus. 1. 1, Ep. 90, p. 29, .
43 Aventin. Anna!. Bojorum, 1. 3, f. 300, as cited in Mr. Gregory's Posthumous Works,
P- 49. 2 Chron. vii. 6. * Vide Amal. Fort. lib. 3, cap. 3. Durand. Rational, lib.
5, cap. 1. See the order how the Psalter is appointed to be read.
SECT, ix.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 133
annexed,) we repeat Glory be to the Father, Sac., a custom
which Durandus would have us believe was instituted by
Pope Damasus, at the request of St. Jerome ; 66 but for this
there appears to be but little foundation. In the Eastern
Churches they never used this glorification, but only at the
end of the last Psalm, which they called their Antiphona, or
Allelujah, as being one of those Psalms which had the Alle-
lujah prefixed to it ; fi7 but in France, and several other of the
Western Churches, it was used at the end of every Psalm ; C8
which is still continued with us, to signify that we believe
that the same God is worshipped by Christians as by Jews ;
the same God that is glorified in the Psalms, having been
from the beginning Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as well as
now. So that the Gloria Patri is not any real addition to the
Psalms, but is only used as a necessary expedient to turn the
Jewish Psalms into Christian Hymns, and fit them for the use
of the Church now, as they were before for the use of the
synagogue.
. 8. The present division of the Book of The ctmrse ob _
Psalms into several portions (whereby two separ- served in reading
ate portions are affixed to each day, and the circle the Psalms -
of the whole to the circuit of the month) seems to be more
commodious and proper than any method that had been used
before. For the division of them into seven portions, called
nocturns, which took up the whole once a week, (as practised
in the Latin Church,) seemed too long and tedious. And the
division of them into twenty portions, to be read over in so
many days, (as in the Greek Church,) though less tedious, is
too uncertain, every portion perpetually shifting its day:
whereas in our Church, each portion being constantly fixed to
the same day of the month, (except there be proper Psalms
appointed for that day, as all the former Common Prayer
Books expressed it,) the whole course is rendered certain and
immovable : and being divided into threescore different por-
tions, (i. e. one for every morning, and one for every even-
ing service,) none of them can be thought too tedious or
burdensome. In all the old Common Prayer Books indeed,
because January and March have one day above the number
of thirty, (which, as concerning this purpose, mas appointed
to every month,} and February, which is placed between them
Durand. Rational. 1. 5, c. 2, n. 17, fol. 214. *i Cassian. Institut. 1. 2, c. 8. Strabo
de Reb. Eccles. c. 25. Cassian. ut supra.
134 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
both, hath only twenty-eight days , it was ordered, that Feb-
ruary should borrow nf eit/ier of the montlis (of January
and March) one day .- and so tlie Psalter which was read in
February began at the last day of January and ended tJie
first day of March. And to know what Psalms were to be
read every day, there was (pursuant to another rubric) a
column added in the calendar, to shew the number that was
appointed for tJie Psalms ; and another table, where the same
number being found, shewed what Psalms were to be read at
morning and evening prayer. But this being found to be
troublesome and needless, it was ordered, first in the Scotch
Liturgy and then in our own, that in February the Psalter
should be read only to the twenty-eighth or twenty -ninth day
of the month. And January and March were inserted into
the rubric, which before ordered that in May, and the rest of
the months that had one and thirty days apiece, the same
Psalms should be read the last day of the said months,
which were read the day before : so that the Psalter may
begin again t/te first day of the next month ensuing.
. 9. The Psalms we use in our daily service
be^ed^cord- are nOt teken Ollt f eithel> f the tw last tran8 -
ing to the trans- lations of the Bible, but out of the great English
SSrtBM?" Bible, translated by William Tyndal and Miles
Coverdale, and revised by archbishop Cranmer :
for when the Common Prayer was compiled in 1548, neither
of the two last translations were extant.
It is true indeed, that at the last review the Epistles and
Gospels were taken out of the new translation : and the Les-
sons too, since that time, have been read out of king James
the First's Bible. But in relation to the Psalms it was noted,
that t/te Psalter followeth tJie division of the Hebrews, and
the translation of the great English Bible set forth and used
in the time of king Henry the Eighth, and king Edward the
Sixth. The reason of the continuance of which order is
the plainness and smoothness of this translation : for the He-
braisms being not so much retained in this as in the late trans-
lations, the verses run much more musical and fitter for devo-
tion. Though, as the old rubric informs us, this translation,
from the ninth Psalm unto the hundred and forty-eighth
Psalm, doth vary in numbers from the common Latin trans-
lation.
*> See the order how the Psalter is appointed to be read.
SECT, X.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 135
SECT. X. Of the Lessons.
OUR hearts being now raised up to God in T
. . - i i i -r i Ine Lessons,
praising and admiring him in the Psalms ; we are why they follow
in a fit temper and disposition to hear what he the Psalins -
shall speak to us by his word. And thus too a respite or
intermission is given to the bent of our minds : for whereas
they were required to be active in the Psalms, it is sufficient
if in the Lessons they hold themselves attentive. And there-
fore now follow two chapters of the Bible, one out of the Old
Testament, the other out of the New, to shew the harmony
between the Law and the Gospel : for what is the Law, but the
Gospel foreshewed ? what the Gospel, but the Law fulfilled ?
That which lies in the Old Testament, as under a shadow, is
in the New brought out into the open sun : things there pre-
figured are here performed. And for this reason the first
Lesson is taken out of the Old Testament, the second out of
the New, that so the minds of the hearers may be gradually
led from darker revelations to clearer views, and prepared by
the vails of the Law to bear the light breaking forth in the
Gospel.
. 2. And here it may not be amiss to observe
the great antiquity of joining the reading of The L a ^ s Uyof
Scriptures to the public devotions of the Church.
Justin Martyr says, " It was a custom in his time to read
Lessons out of the Prophets and Apostles in the assembly of
the faithful." 70 And the Council of Laodicea, held in the
beginning of the fourth century, ordered " Lessons to be min-
gled with the Psalms." 71 And Cassian tells us, that " It was
the constant custom of all the Christians throughout Egypt to
have two Lessons, one out of the Old Testament, another out
of the New, read immediately after the Psalms ; a practice," he
says, " so ancient, that it cannot be known whether it wa
founded upon any human institution." 72 Nor has this prac-
tice been peculiar to the Christians only, but constantly used
also by the Jews : who divided the books of Moses into as
many portions as there are weeks in the year ; that so, one of
those portions being read over every sabbath-day, the whole
might be read through every year. 73 And to this answers that
expression of St. James, 74 that Moses mas read in the syna-
' Apol. 1, cap. 87, p. 131. Can. 17, Concil. torn. i. col. 1500, B. Cassian.
de Inst. Mon. lib. 2, cap. 4. See Ainsworth on Gen. vi. 9. "* Acts xv. 21.
136 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHA*. in.
gogues every sabbath-day. And that to this portion of the Law
they added a Lesson out ofthe Prophets, we may gather from
the thirteenth ofthe Acts, where we find it mentioned that the
Law and the Prophets were both read in a synagogue where
St. Paul was present, 75 and that the Prophets mere read at
Jerusalem every sabbath-day. 16
The order of the ' ^* ^ or ^ e c hoice of these Lessons and their
first Lessons for order, the Church observes a different course,
linarydays. p or the first Les8On8 on or dinary days she ob-
serves only this ; to begin at the beginning of the year with
Genesis, and so to continue on till all the books of the Old
Testament are 'read over ; only omitting the Chronicles (which
are for the most part the same with the books of Samuel and
Kings, which have been read before) and other particular
chapters in other books, which are left out, either for the same
reason, or else because they contain genealogies, names of
persons or places, or some other matter less profitable for
ordinary hearers.
The Song of Solomon, or the book of Canti-
SO why omittTd 0n ' cles, is wholly omitted ; because, if not spiritu-
ally understood, (which very few people are
capable of doing, especially so as to put a tolerably clear sense
upon it,) it is not proper for a mixed congregation. The
Jews ordered that none should read it till they were thirty
years old, for an obvious reason, which too plainly holds
amongst us.
Very many chapters of Ezekiel are omitted,
EZ omUted. h)r upon account of the mystical visions in which
they are wrapt up. Why some others are omitted
does not so plainly appear, though doubtless the compilers of
our Liturgy thought there was sufficient reason for it.
Isaiah, why re- After all the canonical books of the Old Tes-
erved to the tament are read through, (except Isaiah, which
being the most evangelical prophet, and con-
taining the clearest prophecies of Christ, is not read in the
order it stands in the Bible, but reserved to be read a little
before, and in Advent, to prepare in us a true faith in the
mystery of Christ's incarnation and birth, the commemora-
tion of which at that time draws nigh ;) after all the rest, I
say, to supply the remaining part of the year, several books of
Act* xiil. 15. Ver. 27. See also Prideaux'* Connexion, vol. it. p. 172, 251.
Oxf. edit. 1838.
SECT, x.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 137
the Apocrypha are appointed to be read, which, .
r 11. . v. ii j i Apocryphal
though not canonical, have yet been allowed, by books, upon what
the judgment of the Church for many ages past, * 7 L u e "|: on 7 d
to be ecclesiastical and good, nearest to ^divine
of any writings in the world. For which reason the books of
Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Tobit, Judith, and the Maccabees,
were recommended by the Council of Carthage" to be pub-
licly read in the church. And Ruffinus testifies, 78 that they
were all in use in his time, though not with an authority equal
to that of the canonical books. And that the same respect
was paid to them in latter ages, Isidore Hispalensis 79 and Ra-
banus Maurus 80 both affirm.
In conformity to so general a practice, the Church of Eng-
land still continues the use of these books in her public ser-
vice ; though not with any design to lessen the authority of
canonical Scripture, which she expressly affirms to be the
only rule of faith : declaring, 81 that the Church doth read the
oilier books for example of life and instruction of manners,
but yet doth not apply them to establish any doctrine. Nor is
there any one Sunday in the whole year, that has any of its
Lessons taken out of the Apocrypha. For as the greatest
assemblies of Christians are upon those days, it is wisely or-
dered that they should then be instructed out of the undis-
puted word of God. And even on the week-days, the second
Lessons are constantly taken out of canonical Scripture, which
one would think should be enough to silence our adversaries ;
especially as there is more canonical Scripture read in our
churches in any two months (even though we should except
the Psalms, Epistles, and Gospels) than is in a whole year in
the largest of their meetings. But to return :
. 4. The course of the first Lessons appointed
for Sundays is different from that which is or- Th fo f sl^ 0118
dained for the week-days. For from Advent
Sunday to Septuagesima Sunday, some particular chapters out
of Isaiah are appointed, for the aforesaid reason. But upon
Septuagesima Sunday Genesis is begun ; because then begins
the time of penance and mortification, to which Genesis suits
best, as treating of the original of our misery by the fall of
Adam, and of God's severe judgment upon the world for sin.
For which reason the reading of this book was affixed to Lent,
" Cap. 27. Ruffin. in Symb. ' De Eccles. Offic. lib. 1, c. 11. M De Instit.
Eccles. 1. 2, c. 53. ' In her sixth Article.
138 OF THE ORDER FOR [cm*. HI.
even in the primitive ages of the Church. 62 Then are read for-
ward the books as they lie in order ; not all the books, but
(because more people can attend the public worship of God
upon Sundays than upon other days) such particular chapters
are selected, as are judged most edifying to all that are pre-
sent. And if any Sunday be (as some call it) a privileged
day, i. e. if it hath the history of it expressed in Scripture,
such as Easter-day, Whitsunday, &c., then are peculiar and
proper Lessons appointed.
. 5. Upon saints-days another order is ob-
for < iaint8 I <iay n8 served : for upon them the Church appoints Les-
sons out of the moral books, such as Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus, and Wisdom, which, containing
excellent instructions of life and conversation, are fit to be
read upon the days of saints, whose exemplary lives and deaths
are the causes of the Church's solemn commemoration of them,
and commendation of them to us.
. 6. Other holy-days, such as Christmas-
\>r other holy- day> circumcision, Epiphany, &c., have proper
and peculiar Lessons appointed suitable to the
occasions, as shall be shewn hereafter, when I speak of those
several days. I shall only observe here, that there have been
proper Lessons appointed on all holy-days, as well saints-days
as others, ever since St. Austin's time : 83 though perhaps they
were not reduced into an exact order till the time of Musaeus,
a famous priest of Massilia, who lived about the year 480.
Of whom Gennadius writes, that he particularly applied him-
self, at the request of St. Venerius, a bishop, to choose out
proper Lessons for all the festivals in the year. 84
. 7. As for the second Lessons, the Church ob-
^econ^Lessons 6 serves the same course upon Sundays as she doth
upon week-days ; reading the Gospels and Acts
of the Apostles in the morning, and the Epistles at evening, in
the same order they stand in the New Testament ; except up-
on saints-days and holy-days, when such Lessons are appointed,
as either explain the mystery, relate the history, or apply the
example to us.
The Revelation 8- The Revelation is wholly omitted, except
omitted, and the first and last chapters (which are read upon
the day of St. John the Evangelist, who was
Chry*ot. torn. i. Horn. 7, p. 106, et toin. ii. Horn. 1, p. 10, edit. Paris, 1609.
*> August, in Prooem. Ep. Jolian. * Gennadius de Viris Ulustribus, cap. 79.
SECT, i.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 139
the author) and part of the nineteenth chapter (which con-
taining the praises and adoration paid to God by the angels
and saints in heaven, is very properly appointed to be read on
the festival of All-Saints). But, except upon these occasions,
none of this book is read openly in the church for Lessons, by
reason of its obscurity, which renders it unintelligible to
meaner capacities.
. 9. And thus we see, by the prudence of the The antiquity
Church, the Old Testament is read over once, and usefulness of
and the New thrice (i. e. excepting some less this method -
useful parts of both) in the space of a year, conformable to the
practice of the ancient Fathers : who (as our reformers tell us 86 )
so ordered the matter, that all the whole Bible, or the greatest
part thereof, should be read over once every year : intending
thereby that the clergy, and especially such as were ministers
in the congregation, should (by often reading and meditating
in God's ivord) be stirred up to godliness themselves, and be
more able to exhort others by wholesome doctrine, and to con-
fute them that were adversaries to the truth: and further, that
the people (by daily hearing the holy Scriptures read in the
church) might continually profit more and more in the know-
ledge of God, and be more inflamed with the love of his true
religion. Wliereas in the Church of Rome this godly and de-
cent order was so altered, broken, and neglected, by planting
in uncertain stories and legends,* with multitudes of responds,^
verses,^ vain repetitions, commemorations,^ and synodals ;j|
s In the preface concerning the service of the Church.
* Uncertain stories and legends.] By these are to be understood those le- L JK m * >
gendary stories, which the Roman breviaries appoint to be read on their saints- *JJJf they
days : which being almost as numerous as the days in the year, there is hardly
a day free from having idle tales mixed in its service. Nor is this remarkable
only in their Lessons upon their modern saints ; but even the stories of the
Apostles are so scandalously blended with monkish fictions, that all wise and
conscientious Christians must nauseate and abominate their service.
t Responds.] A respond is a short anthem, interrupting the middle of a HeTx>n<K
chapter, which is not to proceed till the anthem is done. The long responses ^*"
are used at the close of the Lessons.
J Verms.} By the verses here mentioned are to be understood either the Vce,
versicle that follows the respond in the breviary, or else those hymns which
are proper to every Sunday and holy-day ; which (except some few) are a
parcel of despicable monkish Latin verses, composed in the most illiterate
ages of Christianity.
Commemorations.'] Commemorations are the mixing the service of some Comnn"-
holy-day of lesser note, with the service of a Sunday or holy-day of greater t 1 n *'
eminency, on which the less holy-day happens to fall. In which case it is
appointed by the ninth general rule in the breviary, that only the hymns,
verses, &c., and some other part of the service of the lesser holy-day, be an-
nexed to that of the greater.
|| Synodals.] These were the publication or recital of the provincial con- s r l "' l! |'"-
stitutions in the parish-churches. For after the conclusion of every provincial *"
140 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. tn.
that, commonly, when any book of the Bible was begun, after
three or four chapters were read out, all the rest were unread.
And in this sort the book of Isaiah was begun in Advent, and
the book of Genesis in Septuagesima ; but they were only be-
gun, and never read through : after like sort were other books
of holy Scripture used. Moreover, the number and hardness
of the rules called the Pie,* and the manifold changings of the
service, was the cause, that to turn the book only was so hard
and intricate a matter, that many times there was more busi-
ness to find out what should be read, than to read it when it
was found out.
These inconveniences therefore considered, here is set forth
such an order, whereby the same shall be redressed. And for
a readiness in this matter, here is drawn out a calendar for
that purpose, which is plain and easy to be understood; where-
in (so much as may be) the reading of holy Scripture is so set
forth, that all things should be done in order, without breaking
one piece from another. For this cause be cut off anthems,
responds, invitatories, and such like things, as did break the
continual course of the reading of the Scripture.
Yet, because there is no remedy but that of necessity, there
must be some rules ; therefore certain rules are here set forth,
which as they are few in number, so they are plain and easy
to be understood. So that here you have an order for prayer,
and for the reading of the holy Scripture, much agreeable to
the mind and purpose of the old Fathers, and a great deal more
profitable and commodious than that which of late was used.
It is more profitable, because here are left out many things,
whereof some are untrue, some uncertain, some vain and su-
perstitious ; and nothing is ordained to be read, but the very
pure word of God, the holy Scriptures, or that which is agree-
syuod, the canons thereof were to be read in the churches, and the tenor of
them to be declared and made known to the people ; and some of them to be
annually repeated on certain Sundays in the year. 87
P1 ' 1 nlU * Pie.] The word pie some suppose derives its name from wia(, which
w called. , t|( . Q ree ][ S sometimes use for table or index : though others think these tables
or indexes were called the pie, from the parti-coloured letters whereof they
consisted ; the initial and some other remarkable letters and words being
done in red, and the rest all in black. And upon this account, when they
Piralft- translate it into Latin, they call it pica. From whence it is supposed, that
whVnnw wnen printing came in use, those letters which were of a moderate size (i. e.
oiled. about the bigness of those in these comments and tables) were called pica
letters."
" So* Dr. N IchoU In bii note* on the wort) fynmfab In th prrfhce roncrrntng the entice of the Church.
See Dr. Nlcholi, u boic, upon tbe word fur.
SECT, x.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 141
able to the same ; and that, in such a language and order, as
is most easy and plain for the understanding both of the readers
and hearers : it is also more commodious, both for the short-
ness thereof, and for the plainness of the order, and for that
the rules be few and easy.
. 10. The Scripture being the word of God, and so a de-
claration of his will ; the reading of it or making it known to
the people is an act of authority, and therefore
the minister that reads the Lessons is to stand. T ^ e SSSter?
And because it is an office directed to the congre-
gation, by all the former Common Prayer Books it was ordered,
that (to the end the people may the better hear] in such places
where they do sing, there shall the Lessons be sung in a plain
tune, after the manner of distinct reading : and likewise the
Epistle and the Gospel. But that rubric is now left out, and
the minister is only directed to read distinctly with an audi-
ble voice, and to turn himself so as he may best be heard of
all such as are present .- which shews, that in time of prayer
the minister used to look another way; a custom still observed
in some parish-churches, where the reading pews
have two desks ; one for the Bible, looking to- JSJyjJ*
wards the body of the church to the people ;
another for the Prayer Book, looking towards the east or up-
per end of the chancel ; in conformity to the practice of the
primitive Church, which, as I have already observed, 89 paid a
more than ordinary reverence in their worship towards the east.
.11. Before every Lesson the minister is direct-
ed to give notice to the people what chapter he ^TesS &c.
reads, by saying, Here beginneth such a chapter,
or verse of such a chapter of such a book : that so the people,
if they have their Bibles with them, may, by looking over them,
be the more attentive. The care of the primitive Church in
this case was very remarkable. Before the Lesson began, the
deacon first stood up, calling out aloud, Let us listen, my
brethren ; and then he that read invited his audience to atten-
tion, by introducing the Lesson with these words : Thus saith
the Lord. 90 After every Lesson the minister with us is also
directed to give notice that it is finished, by saying, Here endeth
the first or second Lesson; which is the form now prescribed
instead of the old one, Here endeth such a chapter of such a
book, which were the words enjoined by all our former Liturgies.
89 Page 86. "> Chrysost. in Act. 9, Horn. 19.
142 OP THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. HI.
. 12. As for the people, there is no posture
^neTS' f prescribed for them ; but in former times they
always stood, to shew their reverence. It is
recorded of the Jews in the book of Nehemiah, 91 that when
Ezra opened the book of the lam, in the sight of the people,
all the people stood up. And in the first ages of Christianity
those only were permitted to sit, who by reason of old age, or
some other infirmity, were not able to stand throughout the
whole time of divine service. 92 And it is very observable,
that another ceremony used by the Christians of those times,
before the reading of the Lessons, was the mashing their
hands, 93 a ceremony said to be still used by the Turks, before
they touch their Alcoran, who also write thereupon, Let no
unclean person touch this.- 9 * which should excite us at least
to prepare ourselves in such a manner, as may fit us to hear
the word of God, and to express such outward reverence, as
may testify a due regard to its author.
SECT. XL Of the Hymns in general.
THE use of hymns among Christians isundoubt-
' he hmns! ty f edl y a* old as the time8 of the Apostles : M and
we learn, both from the observation of St. Au-
gustin 96 and from the canons of the Church, 97 that hymns and
psalms were intermingled with the Lessons, that so by variety
the people might be secured against weariness and distraction.
The reasonable- ^- Bui besides antiquity, reason calls for
nessof them after this interposition of hymns, in respect to the
on8 ' great benefit we may receive from the word of
God : for if we daily bless him for our ordinary meat and
drink, how much more are we bound to glorify him for the
food of our souls ?
When fint added ** ^ nat we ma y not therefore want forms
of praise proper for the occasion, the Church
hath provided us with two after each Lesson, both in the
morning and evening service ; leaving it to the discretion of
him that ministereth, to use those which he thinks most con-
venient and suitable : though in the first Common Prayer
Book of king Edward VI. there was only one provided for a
' Chap. viii. 5. August. Serm. 300, In Append, ad torn. v. col. 504, B.
** Chryg. Horn. 53, in Joan. torn. ii. p. 776, lin. 3, 4. M Mr. Gregory's Pref. to his
Notes and Observations upon Scripture, p. 3. * Matt. xxvi. 30. Col. v. 16. James
T. 13. Serm. 176, torn. v. col. 839, D. Concil. Laod. Can. 17, Concil. torn. i.
col. 1500, B.
IKCT. xii.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 143
Lesson ; the hundredth, the ninety-eighth, and the sixty-
seventh psalms not being added till 1552. The Te Deurn
and the Benedicite indeed were both in the first book ; but
not for choice, but to be used one at one time of the year, and
the other at another, as the next section will shew.
SECT. XII. Of the Hymns after the first Lessons.
HAVING heard the holy precepts and useful
examples, the comfortable promises and just {
threatenings, contained in the first Lesson, we im-
mediately break out into praising God for illuminating our
minds, for quickening our affections, for reviving our hopes,
for awakening our sloth, and for confirming our resolutions.
I. For our supply and assistance in which The Te Deum
reasonable duty, the Church has provided us two and Benedicite,
ancient hymns ; the one called Te Deum, from w
the first words of it in Latin, (Te Deum laudamus, We praise
thee, O God ,) the other Benedicite, for the same reason, the
beginning of it in Latin being Benedicite omnia opera Do-
mini Domino ; or, O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the
Lord. The former of these is now most frequently used, and
the latter only upon some particular occasions.
. 2. The first (as it is generally believed) was
composed by St. Ambrose for the baptism of St. * h h e e S n f
Augustin : 98 since which time it has ever been
held in the greatest esteem, -and daily repeated in the church :
so that it is now of above thirteen hundred years standing.
The hymn itself is rational and majestic, and in all particulars
worthy of the spouse of Christ ; being above all the compo-
sures of men uninspired, fittest for the tongues of men and
angels.
II. The other was an ancient hymn in the
Jewish Church, and adopted into the public de- ^ e th e r go"? of
votions of the Christians from the most early the three chii-
times. St. Cyprian quotes it as part of the holy Jjg iu
Scriptures :" in which opinion he is seconded by
Ruffinus, who very severely inveighs against St. Jerome for
doubting of its divine authority ; and informs us, that it was
used in the Church long before his time, who himself lived
* St. Greg. lib. 3, Dial. cap. 4, mentions Dacius bishop of Milan, A. D. 560, who, in
the first book of the Chronicles writ by him, gives an account of this. See also St.
Bennet Reg. cap. 11. De Orat. bom. p. 142.
144 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. 111.
A. D. 390. 10 And when afterwards it was left out by some
that performed divine service, the fourth Council of Toledo,
in the year 633, commanded it to be used, and excommuni-
cated the priests that omitted it. 1 Our Church indeed does
not receive it for canonical Scripture, because it is not to be
found in the Hebrew, nor was allowed in the Jewish canon ;
but it is notwithstanding an exact paraphrase of the hundred
and forty-eighth psalm, and so like it in words and sense, that
whoever despiseth this, reproacheth that part of the canonical
writings.
8. 2. As to the subject of it, it is an elegant
The subject of it. it -Jt _i L- ^
summons to all God s works to praise him ; inti-
mating that they all set out his glory, and invite us, who have
the benefit of them, to join with these three children (to
whom so great and wonderful a deliverance was given) in
praising and magnifying the Lord far ever.
. 3. So that when we would glorify God for
^be used** * ^is works, which is one main end of the Lord's
day ; or when the Lesson treats of the creation,
or sets before us the wonderful works of God in any of his
creatures, or the use he makes of them either ordinary or
miraculous for the good of the Church ; this hymn may very
seasonably be used. Though in the first Common Prayer
Book of king Edward VI., Te Deum was appointed daily
througliout the year, except in Lent, all the mhich time, in
the place of Te Deum, Benedicite mas to be used. So that,
as I have already observed, they were not originally inserted
for choice ; but to be used at different parts of the year. But
when the second book came out with double hymns for the
other Lessons ; these also were left indifferent at the discre-
tion of the minister, and the words, Or this Canticle, inserted
before the hymn we are now speaking of.
III. After the first Lesson at evening prayer,
caft.'or ?he l song two other hymns are appointed, both of them
or the blessed taken out of canonical Scripture : the first is the
song of the blessed Virgin, called the Magnificat,
from its first word in Latin. It is the first hymn recorded in
the New Testament, and, from its ancient use among the
primitive Christians, has been continued in the offices of the
Reformed Churches abroad,* as well as in ours.
100 Ruffln. 1. 2. adv. Hieron. Can. 14, Concil. torn. v. col. 1710, C. D. See
Durcll's View of the Reformed Churches, page 38.
SECT, xiii.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 145
For as the Holy Virgin, when she reflected upon the pro-
mises of the Old Testament, now about to be fulfilled in the
mysterious conception and happy birth, of which God had de-
signed her to be the instrument, expressed her joy in this
form ; so we, when we hear in the Lessons like examples of
his mercy, and are told of those prophecies and promises
which were then fulfilled, may not improperly rejoice with
her in the same words, as having a proportionable share of
interest in the same blessing.
IV. But when the first Lesson treats of some
great and temporal deliverance granted to the
i i /> /-< j i ii
peculiar people 01 trod, we have the ninety-
eighth psalm for variety ; which, though made on occasion of
some of David's victories, may yet be very properly applied
to ourselves, who, being God's adopted children, are a spirit-
ual Israel, and therefore have all imaginable reason to bless
God for the same, and to call upon the whole creation to join
with us in thanksgiving. This was one of those which, I have
already observed, was first added to king Edward's second
Common Prayer.
SECT. XIII. Of the Hymns after the second Lessons.
HAVING expressed our thankfulness to God in
one of the above-mentioned hymns for the light J^S'^^ 8
and instruction we have received from the first
Lesson ; we are fitly disposed to hear the clearer revelations
exhibited to us in the second.
I. As to the second Lesson in the morning, it O ftheBenedic-
is always taken out either of the Gospels or the tus, or song of
Acts; which contain an historical account of the Zachanas -
great work of our redemption : and therefore as the angel,
that first published the glad tidings of salvation, was joined
by a multitude of the heavenly host, who all brake forth in
praises to God ; so when the same tidings are rehearsed by
the priest, both he and the people immediately join their mu-
tual gratulations, praising God, and saying, Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his
people ; and hath raised up a mighty salvation for us in the
house of his servant David, &c.; being the hymn that was com-
posed by good old Zacharias, at the circumcision of his son,
St. John the Baptist, 3 and containing a thanksgiving to God
Luke i. 57.
Xi
146 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
for the incarnation of our Saviour, and for those unspeakable
mercies which (though they were not then fully completed)
were quickly afterwards the subject of the whole Church's
praises.
II. For variety the hundredth psalm was also
appointed by king Edward's second book, in
which all lands and nations are invited and call-
ed upon to serve the Lord with gladness, and come before
his presence with a song, for his exceeding grace, mercy, and
truth, which are so eminently set forth in the Gospels.
III. After the second Lesson at evening, which
rth mutu nc Di ' is always out of the Epistles, the Song of Simeon,
called Nunc Dimittis, is most commonly used.
The author of it is supposed to have been he whom the Jews
call Simeon the Just, son to the famous Rabbi Hillel, 4 a man
of eminent integrity, and one who opposed the then common
opinion of the Messiah's temporal kingdom. The occasion of
his composing it was his meeting Christ in the temple, when he
came to be presented there, wherein God fulfilled his promise
to him, that he should not die till he had seen the Lord's Christ. 5
And though we cannot see our Saviour with our bodily eyes,
as he did, yet he is by the writings of the Apostles daily pre-
sented to the eyes of our faith : and therefore if we were much
concerned for heaven, and as loose from the love of the world
as old Simeon was, and we ought to be ; we might, upon the
view of Christ in his holy word, be daily ready to sing this
hymn, which is taken into the services of all Christian Churches
in the world, Greek, Roman, and Reformed, and was formerly
very frequently sung by saints and martyrs a little before their
deaths.
IV. Instead of it sometimes the sixty-seventh
psalm is used, (being one of those that was intro-
duced in king Edward's second Liturgy,) which
being a prayer of David for the coming of the Gospel, is a pro-
per form wherein to express our desires for the further pro-
pagation of it.
N. B. It ought to be noted, that both the sixty-seventh and
hundredth psalms, being inserted in the Common Prayer
Books in the ordinary version, ought so to be used, and not to
be sung in Sternhold and Hopkins, or any other metre, as is
Vid. Scultet. Eiercit. Evang. 1. 1, c. 61, and Llghtfoofs Harmony on the place.
* Luke ii. 26.
SECT, xir.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 147
now the custom in too many churches, to the jostling out of
the psalms themselves, expressly contrary to the design of the
rubric : which, if not prevented, may in time make way for
further innovations and gross irregularities.
SECT. XIV. Of the Apostles' Creed.
THOUGH the Scriptures be a perfect revelation
,, j. . ,* . . The Creed.
oi all divine truths necessary to salvation ; yet
the fundamental articles of our faith are so dispersed there,
that it was thought necessary to collect out of those sacred
writings one plain and short summary of fundamental doctrines,
which might easily be understood and remembered by all
Christians.
. 2. This summary, from the first word in Avhy so called
Latin, Credo, is commonly called the Creed ; why called sym-
though in Latin it is called Symbolum, for which b<
several reasons are given : as, first, that it is an allusion to
the custom of several persons meeting together to eat of one
common supper, whither every one brings something for his
share to make up that common meal, which from hence was
called Symbolum, from the Greek word erv/u/SaXXav, which sig-*
nines to throw or cast together : even so, say some, 6 the Apos-
tles met together, and each one put or threw in his article to
compose this symbol.
Another signification of the word is fetched from military
affairs, where it is used to denote those marks, signs, or watch-
words, &c., whereby the soldiers of an army distinguished and
knew each other: in like manner, as some think, 7 by this
Creed the true soldiers of Jesus Christ were distinguished from
all others, and discerned from those who were only false and
hypocritical pretenders.
But the most natural signification of the word seems to be
derived from the pagan symbols, which were secret marks,
words, or tokens communicated at the time of initiation, or a
little before, unto those who were consecrated or entered into
their reserved or hidden rites, and to none else ; by the de-
claration, manifestation, or pronunciation whereof, those more
devout idolaters knew each other, and were with all freedom
and liberty of access admitted to their more intimate mysteries,
i. e. to the secret worship and rites of that God, whose sym-
6 Ruffin. Expos, in Symb. Apost. ad calcem Cyprian. Oper. pag. 17. Cassian. de In-
carn. Dom. 1. 6, c. 3, pag. 1046, Atrebat. 1628. ' Ruffin. ut supra. Maxim. Taxiri-
nens. Homil. in Symbol, ap Biblioth. Vet. Pair. Colon. Agrippin. 1618, torn. v. pag. 39.
L 2
148 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
bols they had received : from whence the multitude in general
were kept out and excluded : which said symbols those who
had received them were obliged carefully to conceal, and not,
on any account whatsoever, to divulge or reveal. 8 And for
the same reasons the Apostles' Creed is thought by some to
have been termed a symbol, because it was studiously con-
cealed from the pagan world, and not revealed to the cate-
chumens themselves, till just before their baptism or initiation
in the Christian mysteries ; when it was delivered to them as
that secret note, mark, or token, by which the faithful in all
parts of the world might, without any danger, make them-
selves known to one another. 9
. 3. That the whole Creed, as we now use it,
The antiquity of wag drawn U p by the Apostles themselves, can
hardly be proved : but that the greatest part of
it was derived from the very days of the Apostles, is evident
from the testimonies of the most ancient writers ; 10 particu-
larly of St. Ignatius, in whose epistles most of its articles are
to be found : though there are some reasons to believe, that
jsome few of them, viz. that of the descent into hell, the com-
munion of saints, and the life everlasting, were not added till
some time after, in opposition to some gross errors and here-
sies that sprang up in the Church. But the whole form, as it
now stands in our Liturgy, is to be found in the works of St
Ambrose and Ruffinus. 11
. 4. It is true indeed the primitive Christians,
cited^ubiidy ^v reason they always concealed this and their
other mysteries, did not in their assemblies pub-
licly recite the Creed, except at the times of baptism ; which,
unless in cases of necessity, were only at Easter and Whitsun-
tide. From whence it came to pass, that the constant repeat-
ing of the Creed in the church was not introduced till five
hundred years after Christ : about which time Petrus Gna-
pheus, bishop of Antioch, prescribed the constant recital of
the Creed at the public administration of divine service. 12
The place of the % Tl pjf ce of \ in w ^urgy may be
creed in the Li- considered with respect both to what goes before,
turgy - and what comes after it. That which goes be-
fore it are the Lessons taken out of the word of God : for faith
See instances of these symbols in the lord chief-Justice King's Critical History of
the Creed, chap. 1, p. 11, &c. * See this proved by the same author, p. 20, &c.
10 Vid. Irenteum, contr. Hares. 1. 1, c. 2, p. 44. Tertull. de Virg. veland. c. 1, p. 175,
A. De Prescript. Hnreticor. c. 13, p. 206, D. " In their Expositions upon it.
Thcodor. Lector. Histor. Eccles. p. 563, C.
SECT, xtv.] MOKNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 149
comes by hearing ,- 13 and therefore when we have heard God's
word, it is fit we should profess our belief of it, thereby set-
ting our seals (as it were) to the truth of God, u especially to
such articles as the chapters now read to us have confirmed.
What follows the Creed are the prayers which are grounded
upon it : for we cannot call on him in whom we have not be-
lieved. 15 And therefore since we are to pray to God the
Father, in the name of the Son, by the assistance of the Holy
Ghost, for remission of sins, and a joyful resurrection ; we
first declare that we believe in God the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, and that there is remission here, and a resurrec-
tion to life hereafter, for all true members of the Catholic
Church ; and then we may be said to pray in faith.
. 6. Both minister and people are appointed To be repeated
to repeat this Creed ; because it is the profession by the whole
of every person present, and ought for that rea- con g re g atlon -
son to be made by every one in his own person ; the more
expressly to declare their belief of it to each other, and con-
sequently to the whole Christian world, with whom they
maintain communion.
. 7. It is to be repeated standing, to signify
our resolution to stand up stoutly in the defence
of it. And in Poland and Lithuania the nobles used formerly
to draw their swords, in token that, if need were, they would
defend and seal the truth of it with their blood. 16
. 8. When we repeat it, it is customary to
turn towards the east, that so whilst we are making towards fheeTs?
profession of our faith in the blessed Trinity, we
may look towards that quarter of the heavens where God is
supposed to have his peculiar residence of glory. 17
. 9. When we come to the second article in Reverence to ^
this Creed, in which the name of JESUS is men- madeatthename
tioned, the whole congregation makes obeisance, Ol
which the Church (in regard to that passage of St. Paul, That
at the name of JESUS every knee should bow l& } expressly en-
joins in her eighteenth canon : ordering, that when in time
of divine service the Lord JESUS shall be mentioned, due and
lowly reverence shall be done by all persons present, as it
has been accustomed ; testifying by these outward ceremonies
and gestures tlieir inward humility, Christian resolution, and
11 Rom. x. 17. i* John iii. 33. Rom. x. 14. See Durell's View, &c.
sect. 1, . 24, page 37. _ " See Mr. Gregory, as quoted in note &, p. 86. Phil. ii. 10.
150 OP THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
due acknowledgment that tJie Lord JESUS CHRIST, the true
eternal Son of God, is the only Saviour of the world, in
whom alone all the mercies, graces, and promises of God to
mankind for this life, and the life to come, are fully and
wholly comprised.
SECT. XV. Of St. Athanasius's Creed.
The Creed of WHETHER this Creed was composed by Atha-
Saint Athana- nasius or not, is matter of dispute : in the rubric
before it, as enlarged at the review, it is only said
to be commonly called the Creed of St. Athanasius: but we
are certain that it has been received as a treasure of ines-
timable price both by the Greek and Latin Churches for al-
most a thousand years.
The scruple 2. As to the matter of it, it condemns all
which some ancient and modern heresies, and is the sum of
iUt ' all orthodox divinity. And therefore if any
scruple at the denying salvation to such as do not believe
these articles ; let them remember, that such as hold any of
those fundamental heresies are condemned in Scripture : l9
from whence it was a primitive custom, after a confession of
the orthodox faith, to pass an anathema against all that denied
it. But however, for the ease and satisfaction of some people
who have a notion that this Creed requires every person to
assent to, or believe, every verse in it on pain of damnation ;
and who therefore (because there are several things in it which
they cannot comprehend) scruple to repeat it for fear they
should anathematize or condemn themselves ; I desire to offer
what follows to their consideration, viz. That howsoever plain
and agreeable to reason every verse in this Creed may be ;
yet we are not required, by the words of the Creed, to believe
the whole on pain of damnation. For all that is required of
us as necessary to salvation, is, that before all things me hold
the catholic faith : and the catholic faith is by the third and
fourth verses explained to be this, that me worship one God
in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity: neither confounding the
persons, nor dividing the substance. This therefore is de-
clared necessary to be believed : but all that follows from
hence to the twenty-sixth verse, is only brought as a proof
and illustration of it; and therefore requires our assent no
more than a sermon does, which is made to prove or illustrate
1 John U. M, 13. v. 10. 2 Pet. 11. 1.
SECT, xvt.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 151
a text. The text, we know, is the word of God, and therefore
necessary to be believed : but no person is, for that reason,
bound to believe every particular of the sermon deduced from
it, upon pain of damnation, though every tittle of it may be
true. The same I take it to be in this Creed : the belief of
the catholic faith before mentioned, the Scripture makes ne-
cessary to salvation, and therefore we must believe it: but
there is no such necessity laid upon us to believe the illustra-
tion that is there given of it, nor does the Creed itself require
it : for it goes on in the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh verses
in these words, So that in all things as is aforesaid, the Unity
in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped : lie
therefore that mill be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.
Where it plainly passes off from that illustration, and returns
back to the fourth and fifth verses, requiring only our belief
of the catholic faith, as there expressed, as necessary to sal-
vation, viz. that One God or Unity in Trinity and Trinity in
Unity is to be worshipped. All the rest of the Creed, from
the twenty-seventh verse to the end, relates to our Saviour's
incarnation ; which indeed is another essential part of our
faith, and as necessary to be believed as the former : but that
being expressed in such plain terms as none, I suppose, scru-
ple, I need not enlarge any further.
S. 3. The reasons why this Creed is appointed
. V ., ., , J /- j -i i Why said on
to be said upon those days specified in the rubric, those days men-
are, because some of them are more proper for tio " e . d in the
this confession of faith, which, being of all others
the most express concerning the Trinity, is for that reason
appointed on Christmas -day, Epiphany, Easter-day, Ascen-
sion-day, JFliit- Sunday, and Trinity Sunday ; which were
all the days that were appointed for it by the first book of
king Edward : but in his second book it was also enjoined on
Saint Matthias, and some other saints-days, that so it might
be repeated once in every month.
SECT. XVI. Of the Versicles before the Lord's Prayer.
THE congregation having now their consciences The good order
absolved from sin, their affections warmed with and method of
thanksgiving, their understandings enlightened 01
by the word, and their faith strengthened by a public profes-
sion, enter solemnly in the next place upon the remaining
part of divine worship, viz. supplication and prayer, that is,
152 OP THE ORDER FOR [CHAF. m.
to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well
for the body as the soul.
. 2. But because they are not able to do this
without God's help, therefore the minister first
blesses them with The Lord be with you ; which,
it must be observed too, is a very proper salutation in this place,
viz. after a public and solemn profession of their faith. For St.
John forbids us to say to any heretic, God speed ; M and the
primitive Christians were never allowed to salute any that
were excommunicated. 21 But when the minister hath heard
the whole congregation rehearse the Creed, and seen, by
their standing up at it, a testimony of their assent to it ; he
can now salute them as brethren and members of the Church.
But because he is their representative and mouth to God, they
return his salutation, immediately replying, And
^"thy .*wt with mit h th y s P irit ' both which sentences are taken
out of holy Scripture, 22 and together with that
salutation, Peace be with you, (which was generally used by
the bishop, instead of The Lord be with you? 3 } have been of
very early use in the Church, 24 especially in the eastern part
of it, to which, as an ancient Council says, 25 they were de-
livered down by the Apostles themselves : and it is observ-
able that they always denoted (as here) a transition from one
part of the divine service to another.
.3. In the heathen sacrifices there was al-
r ' ways one to cry, Hoc agitc, or to bid them mind
what they were about. And in all the old Christian Liturgies
the deacon was wont t6 call often upon the people, enrrtj'wc
StT)6u>pti>, Let us pray earnestly ; and then again, itcrtviyTtpov,
more earnestly. And the same vehemence and earnest de-
votion does our Church call for in these words, Let us pray ,
warning us thereby to lay aside all wandering thoughts, and
to attend to the great work we are about ; for though the
minister only speaks most of the words, yet our affections
must go along with every petition, and sign them all at last
with an hearty Ainen.
. 4. But being unclean, like the lepers re-
corded by St. Luke, 28 before we come to address
ourselves to God, we begin to cry, Lord have
*> 2 John 10, II. Capital. Carol Ma.?. 1. 5, c. 42. Ruth ii. 4. 2 Then. Hi.
16. 2 Tim. iv. 22. Gal. vi. 18. ** Durand. Rational, lib. 4, c. 14, f. 7, fol. 111.
M Chryi. in Colou. 1. Horn. 3, torn. 4, p. 107, lin. 3, Src. laid. Peleus. 1. 1, Ep. 122, p.
44, A. * Concil. Bracar. 2, cap. 3, torn. v. col. 740, B. * Luke xviL 12, 13.
SECT, xvii.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 153
mercy on us ; lest, if we should unworthily call him Our
Father, he upbraid us as he did the Jews, If I be a father,
where is mine Iwnour? 27 And it is to be observed, that the
Church hath such an awful reverence for the Lord's Prayer,
that she seldom suffers it to be used without some preceding
preparation. In the beginning of the morning and evening
service we are prepared by the confession of our sins, and the
absolution of the priest ; and very commonly in other places
by this short litany : whereby we are taught first to bewail
our unworthiness, and pray for mercy ; and then with an
humble boldness to look up to heaven, and call God Our
Father, and beg further blessings of him.
As to the original of this form, it is taken out of the Psalms, 28
where it is sometimes repeated twice together ; to which the
Christian Church hath added a third, viz. Christ have mercy
upon us, that so it might be a short litany or supplication to
every person in the blessed Trinity : we have offended each
person, and are to pray to each, and therefore we beg help
from them all.
It is of great antiquity both in the Eastern and Western
Churches ; and an old Council orders it to be used there times
a day in the public service. 29 And we are informed that
Constantinople was delivered from an earthquake by the peo-
ple going barefoot in procession and using this short litany. 30
N. B. The clerk and people are here to take The clerk and
notice not to repeat the last of these versicles, people not to re-
r 7 T Pi A! i peat Lord have
viz. Lord have mercy upon us, atter the minister. inercy upm us
In the end of the Litany indeed they ought to after the min-
do it, because there they are directed to say all
the three versicles distinctly after him ; each of them being re-
peated in the Common Prayer Book, viz. first in a Roman
letter for the priest, and then in an Italic, which denotes the
people's response. But in the daily morning and evening ser-
vice, in the office for solemnization of matrimony, in those
for the visitation of the sick, for the burial of the dead, for
the churching of women, and in the commination, where
these versicles are single, and only the second printed in an
Italic character, there they are to be repeated alternately, and
not by way of repetition : so that none but the second versi-
cle, viz. Christ have mercy upon us, comes to the people's
turn, the first and last belonging to the minister.
*? Mai. i. 6. Psalm vi. 2. li. 1. cxxiii. 3. Concil. Vasens. 2, Can. 3, torn,
iv. col. 1680, C. Paul. Diacon. 1. 16, c. 24.
1 54 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
SECT. XVII. Of the Lord's Prayer.
The Lord's '^ HE ^ n ^ter, clerk, and people, being pre-
Prayer, why re- pared in the manner that we have described
peated. above, are now again to say the Lord's Prayer
with a loud voice. For this consecrates and makes way for
all the rest, and is therefore now again repeated. By which
repetition we have this further advantage, that if we did not put
up any petition of it with fervency enough before, we may make
amends for it now, by asking that with a doubled earnestness.
. 2. By the clerks in this rubric (which was
tended by h the"m. first inserted in the second book of king Edward)
I suppose were meant such persons as were ap-
pointed at the beginning of the Reformation, to attend the in-
cumbent in his performance of the offices ; and such as are
still in some cathedral and collegiate churches, which have
lay-clerks (as they are called, being not always ordained) to
look out the Lessons, name the anthem, set the Psalms, and the
like : 31 of which sort I take our parish clerks to be, though we
have now seldom more than one to a church.
SECT. XVIII. Of the Versicles after the Lord's Prayer.
_ . , BEFOBE the minister begins to pray alone for
The versicles. , 1*1. - t u |5! / J-
the people, they are to join with him (according
to the primitive way of praying) in some short versicles and
responsals taken chiefly out of the Psalms, and containing the
sum of all the following collects.
To the first, O Lord, shew thy mercy upon us, and grant
us thy salvation, 3 - answers the Sunday collect, which gener-
ally contains petitions for mercy and salvation. To the second,
O Lord, save the king, and mercifully hear us roJien rve
call upon thee, 33 answer the prayers for the king and royal
family. To the third, Endue thy ministers with righteous-
ness, and make thy chosen people joyful ; 34 and the fourth,
O Lord, save thy people, and bless thine inheritance ; M an-
swers the collect for the clergy and people. To the fifth,
Give peace in our time, Lord, because there is none other
that fight eth for us, but only thou, O God, 36 answer the daily
collects for peace : and to the last, God, make clean our
hearts rcithin us, and take not thy Holy Spirit from us 3 "
answer the daily collects for grace.
" See the Clergyman's Vade Mecum. p. 202, 203. * Psalm Ixxxv. 7. M Psalm
xx. verse the last, according to the Greek translation, w Psalm cxxxii. 9. * Psalm
xxvlil. 9. * 1 Chron. xxii. 9. Psalm H. 10,11.
SECT, xtx.] MOKNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 155
. 2. Against two of these versicles it is ob-
jected, that the Church enjoins us to pray to God ^Sm^
to give peace in our time, for this odd reason,
viz. because there is none other that fighteth for us but only
God. But to this we answer, that the Church by these words
does by no means imply, that the only reason of our desiring
peace, is because we have none other to fight for us, save God
alone ; as if we could be well enough content to be engaged
in war, had we any other to fight for us, besides God : but
they are a more full declaration and acknowledgment of that
forlorn condition we are in, who are not able to help ourselves,
and who cannot depend upon man for help ; which we confess
and lay before Almighty God, to excite the greater compas-
sion in his divine Majesty. And thus the Psalmist cries out
to God, Be not far from me, for trouble is near ; for there
is none to help. 36
. 3. The rubric which orders the priest to
stand up to say these versicles, (which was first iSf i^to'stand
added in 1552,) I imagine to have been founded u .P at these ver -
upon the practice of the priests in the Romish
Church. For it is a custom there for the priest, at all the
long prayers, to kneel before the altar, and mutter them over
softly by himself: but whenever he comes to any versicles
where the people are to make their responses, he rises up and
turns himself to them, in order to be heard : which custom
the compilers of our Liturgy might probably have in their eye,
when they ordered the minister to stand up in this place.
SECT. XIX. Of the Collects and Prayers in general.
BEFORE we come to speak of each of the fol-
, . . r , , The prayers, -why
lowing prayers in particular, it may not be amiss divided into so
to observe one thing concerning them in general, * t " y short col ~
viz. the reason why they are not carried on in one
continued discourse, but divided into many short collects,
such as is that which our Lord himself composed. And that
might be one reason why our Church so ordered it, viz. that
so she might follow the example of our Lord, who best knew
what kind of prayers were fittest for us to use. And indeed
we cannot but find, by our own experience, how difficult it is
to keep our minds long intent upon any thing, much more up-
on so great things as the object and subject of our prayers ;
and that, do what we can, we are still liable to wanderings and
as Psalmxxii.il.
156 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. HI.
distractions : so that there is a kind of necessity to break off
sometimes, that our thoughts, being respited for a while, may
with more ease be fixed again, as it is necessary they should,
so long as we are actually praying to the Supreme Being of
the world.
But besides, in order to the performing our devotions
aright to the most high God, it is necessary that our souls
should be possessed all along with due apprehensions of his
greatness and glory. To which purpose our short prayers
contribute very much. For every one of them beginning
with some of the attributes or perfections of God, and so sug-
gesting to us right apprehensions of him at first, it is easy to
preserve them in our minds during the space of a short prayer,
which in a long one would be too apt to scatter and vanish away.
But one of the principal reasons why our public devotions
are and should be divided into short collects, is this : our
blessed Saviour, we know, hath often told us, that whatsoever
me ask the Fatlier in his name he mill give it us ,- 39 and so
hath directed us in all our prayers to make use of his name,
and to ask nothing but upon the account of his merit and
mediation for us : upon which all our hopes and expectations
from God do wholly depend. For this reason therefore (as it
always was, so also now) it cannot but be judged necessary, that
the name of Christ be frequently inserted in our prayers, that
so we may lift up our hearts unto him, and rest our faith upon
him, for the obtaining those good things we pray for. And
therefore whatsoever it be which we ask of God, we presently
add, through Jesus Christ our Lord, or something to that
effect; and so ask nothing but according to our Lord's direc-
tion, i. e. in his name. And this is the reason that makes our
prayers so short : for take away the conclusion of every collect
or prayer, and they may be joined all together, and be made
but as one continued prayer. But would not this tend to
make us forgetful that we are to offer up our prayers in the
name of Christ, by taking away that which refresheth our
memory ?
. 2. The reason why these prayers are so often
u<;. e< * collects is differently represented. Some
ritualists think, because the word collect is some-
times used both in the vulgar Latin Bible, 40 and by the an-
cient Fathers, 41 to denote the gathering together of the people
John xiv. IS, and xvi. 24. Die* Collects-, Lev. xxili. 36. Collectionem,
Heb. x. 25. i Collectum celebrate. Passim apud Patres.
SECT, xx.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYEK. 157
into religious assemblies ; that therefore the prayers are called
collects, as being repeated when the people are collected to-
gether. 42 Others think they are so named upon account of
their comprehensive brevity ; the minister collecting into short
forms the petitions of the people, which had before been di-
vided between him and them by versicles and responses: 43
and for this reason God is desired in some of them to hear the
prayers and supplications of the people. Though I think it
is very probable that the collects for the Sundays and Holy-
days bear that name, upon account that a great many of them
are very evidently collected out of the Epistles and Gospels.
SECT. XX. Of the three Collects at Morning and Evening Prayer.
THE next thing to be taken notice of is the The rubric after
rubric that follows the versicles after the Lord's the Lord's
prayer in the morning service, viz.
^f Then shall follow three Collects : the first of the Day, which
shall be the same that is appointed at the Communion; the
second for Peace ; the third for Grace to live well. And
the two last Collects shall never alter, but daily be said at
Morning Prayer throughout all the year, as followeth ; all
kneeling.
There is much the same rubric in the evening service ; only
whereas the third collect for the morning is entitled, for grace
to live well ; the title of that for the evening is, for aid against
all perils.
I. The first of these collects, viz. that of the
day, to be the same that is appointed at the ^
communion, will fall under my particular con-
sideration, when I come to treat of the several Sundays and
Holy-days, which will naturally lead me to take notice of the
several collects that belong to them.
II. The second collect, for peace, both for the
morning and evening service, are, word for word, Of th e < ^ ect
translated out of the Sacramentary of St. Gre-
gory ; each of them being suited to the office it is assigned to.
In that which we use in the beginning of the day, when we
are going to engage ourselves in various affairs, and to con-
verse with the world, we pray for outward peace, and desire
to be preserved from the injuries, affronts, and wicked de-
43 A populi collectione, Collectae appellari cceperunt. Alcuinus.
<3 Sacerdos omnium petitiones compendiosa brevitate colligit. Walafrid. Strabo.
158 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP, in
signs of men. But in that for the evening we ask for inward
tranquillity, requesting jfor that peace rchich the world cannot
'five, as springing only from the testimony of a good con-
science : that so each of us may with David be enabled to say,
/ will lay me down in peace, and take my rest ; having our
hearts as easy as our heads, and our sleep sweet and quiet.
III. The third collects, both at morning and
01 for Krace Cts evening, are framed out of the Greek euchologion.
That in the morning service, for grace, is very
proper to be used in the beginning of the day, when we are
probably going to be exposed to various dangers and tempta-
tions. Nor is the other, for aid against all perils,
. ^ ess seasonable at night ; for being then in dan-
ger of the terrors of darkness, we by this form
commend ourselves into the hands of that God, who neither
slumbers nor sleeps, and with whom darkness and light are
both alike.
SECT. XXI. Of the Anthem.
AFTER the aforesaid collects, as well at morn-
ing prayer as at evening, the rubric orders, that
in choirs and places where they sing, here followeth the an-
them ; the original of which is probably derived
Sdant?qu"ty. from the Vel 7 first Christians. For Pliny has
recorded that it was the custom in his time to
meet upon a fixed day before light, and to sing a hymn, in
parts or by turns, to Christ, as God :" which expression can
hardly have any other sense put upon it, than that they sung
in an ant'tphonical way. Socrates indeed attributes the rise of
them to St. Ignatius, who, when he had heard the angels in
heaven singing and answering one another in hymns to God,
ordered that, in the church of Antioch, psalms of praise should
be composed and set to music, and sung in parts by the choir
in the time of divine service ; 45 which, from the manner of
singing them, were called uvriQutva, antiphons, or anthems,
i. e. hymns sung in parts, or by course. This practice was
soon imitated by the whole Church, and has universally ob-
tained ever since.
. 2. The reason of its being ordered in this
. Un * P lace is P artl y perhaps for the relief of the con-
gregation, who, if they have joined with due fer-
Plln. Epiit. 1. 10, Ep. 97, p. 281. edit. Ozon. 1703. Socrat. Hut. Eccl. lib. 6,
cap. 8, p. 313, D.
SECT, xxii.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 159
vour in the foregoing parts of the office, may now be thought
to be something weary ; and partly, I suppose, to make a
division in the service, the former part of it being performed
in behalf of ourselves, and that which follows being mostly
intercessional.
. 3. And therefore since it is now grown a , .
, , * .1 his the proper
custom, in a great many churches, to sing a psalm place for singing
in metre in the middle of the service ; I cannot i )salms -
see why it would not be more proper here, than just after the
second Lesson, where a hymn is purposely provided by the
Church to follow it. I have already showed the irregularity of
singing the hymn itself in metre : and to sing a different psalm
between the Lesson and the psalm appointed, is no less irregu-
lar. And therefore certainly this must be the most proper place
for singing, (if there must be singing before the service is end-
ed,) since it seems much more timely and conformable to the
rubric, and moreover does honour to the singing-psalms them-
selves, by making them supply the place of anthems.
SECT. XXII. Of the Prayer for the King.
WE have been hitherto only praying for our-
selves ; but since we are commanded to pray for Tb th P e r king for
all men,* 6 we now proceed, in obedience to that
command, to pray for the whole Church ; and in th.e first
place for the king, whom, under Christ, we acknowledge to
be the supreme governor of this part of it to which we belong.
And since the supreme King of all the world is God, by whom
all mortal kings reign ; and since his authority sets them up,
and his power only can defend them ; therefore all mankind,
as it were by common consent, have agreed to pray to God for
their rulers. The heathens offered sacrifices, prayers, and
vows for their welfare : and the Jews (as we may see by the
Psalms 47 ) always made their prayers for the king a part of
their public devotion. And all the ancient Fathers, Liturgies,
and Councils fully evidence, that the same was done daily by
Christians : and this not only for those that encouraged them,
but even for such as opposed them, and were enemies to the
faith. Afterwards indeed, when the emperors became Chris-
tian, they particularly named them in their offices, with titles
expressing the dearest affection, and most honourable respect;
and prayed for them in as loyal and as hearty terms as are in-
1 Tim. ii. 1,2. Psalm xx. and hcxii
160 OF THE ORDER FOR [CHAP. in.
eluded in the prayer we are now speaking of: which is taken
almost verbatim out of the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, but
was not inserted in our Liturgy till the reign of queen Eliza-
beth ; when our reformers observing that, by the
oSr fl 8?rVrce e<r Liturgies of king Edward, the queen could not
be prayed for, but upon those days when either
the Litany or Communion-office was to be used, they found
it necessary to add a form, to supply the defect of the daily
service.
SECT. XXIIL Of the Prayer for the Royal Family.
The prayer for THERE is as near an alliance between this and
the royal the former prayer, as between the persons for
whom they are made. And we may observe that
the Persian emperor Darius desired the Jewish priests to pray
not only for the king, but his sons too; 49 and the Romans
prayed for the heirs of the empire, as well as the emperor
himself. 49 The primitive Christians prayed also for the im-
perial family; 8 " and the canons of old Councils both at home
and abroad enjoin the same. 51 In our own Church
indeed there was no mention made of the royal
family till the reign of king James I., because
after the Reformation no protestant prince had children till
he came to the throne. But at his accession, this prayer was
immediately added ; except that the beginning of it, when it
was first inserted, was, .Almighty God, which hast promised
to be a father of* thine elect, and of their seed: but this, I
suppose, being thought to savour a little of Calvinism, was
altered about the year 1632 or 33, when (Frederic the prince
elector palatine, the lady Elizabeth his roife, mith their
princely issue, being left out) these words were changed into,
Almighty God, the fountain of all goodness.
SECT. XXIV. Of the Prayer for the Clergy and People.
The prayer for HAVING thus made our supplications for our
the clergy and temporal governors, that under them we may
people- have all those outward blessings which will make
our lives comfortable here ; we proceed, in the next place,
to pray for our spiritual guides, that with them we may re-
ceive all those graces and inward blessings which will make
Exra vi. 10. Tacit. Annal. 1. 4. " Liturg. 8. Basil. > Excerpt. Egbert,
Can. 7, Spelm. torn. i. p. 259. Concll. Rheraens. 2, Can. 40, torn. vli. col. 1285, C.
SECT, xxv.] MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 161
our souls happy hereafter. We are members of the Church
as well as of the State, and therefore we must pray for the
prosperity of both, since they mutually defend and support
each other. That we might not want a form
therefore suitable and good, this prayer was add- ^dded 1
ed in queen Elizabeth's Common Prayer Book,
out of the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, in conformity to the
practice of the ancient Church, which always had prayers for
the clergy and people. 53
. 2. And because to gather a Church at first
out of infidels, and then to protect it continually V o ^lone^work-
from its enemies, is an act of as great power, and est s reat mar -
a greater miracle of love than to create the world ;
therefore in the preface of this prayer we may properly ad-
dress ourselves to God, as to him mho alone tvorketh great
marvels : though it is not improbable that those words might
be added with a view to the miraculous descent of the Holy
Ghost upon the twelve Apostles on the day of Pentecost.
. 3. By the word curates in this prayer, are
meant all' that are intrusted with the cure or Cur t a h t ^ ; b( T" ho
care of souls, whether they be the incumbents
themselves, who from that cure were anciently called curates ;
or those whom we now more generally call so, from assisting
incumbents in their said cure.
SECT. XXV. Of the Prayer of St. Chrysostom.
WHERE ancient Liturgies afforded proper pray-
ers, the compilers of ours rather chose to retain sT'ifhrysostoin
them than make new ones : and therefore as
some are taken from the Western offices, so is this from the
Eastern ; where it is daily used, with very little difference, in
the Liturgies both of St. Basil and St. Chrysostom ; the last
of which was the undoubted author of it. It is inserted in-
deed in the middle of their Liturgies ; but in ours, I think
more properly, at the conclusion. For it is fit, that, in the
close of our prayers, we should first reflect on all those great
and necessary requests we have made, and then not only re-
new our desires that God may grant them, but also stir up
our hearts to hope he will. To which end we address our-
selves in this prayer to the second Person in the glorious
5 * Synes. Ep. 11, p. 173, B. Excerpt. Egberti, Can. 8, Spelm. torn. i. p. 220. Concil.
Calchuthens. Can. 10, torn. vi. col. 1816, A.
M
162 MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. [CHAP. HI.
Trinity, our blessed Saviour, and remind him of the gracious
promise he made to us when on earth, that where two or
three are gathered together in his name, he would be there in
the midst of them ,- 53 and therefore if we can but prevail with
him to hear our desires and petitions, we know that the pow-
er of his intercession with God is so great, that we need not
doubt but we shall obtain them. But however, since it may
happen that we may have asked some things which he may
not think convenient for us ; we do not peremptorily desire
that he would give us all we have prayed for, but submit our
prayers to his heavenly will ; and only request that he would
fulfil our desires and petitions as may be most expedient for
us : begging nothing positively, but what we are sure we can-
not be too importunate for, viz. in this world knowledge of
his truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. This
we may ask peremptorily, without fear of arrogance or pre-
sumption ; and yet this is all we really stand in need of.
. 2. Neither this nor the following benedic-
W &dded" 1 tory prayer is at the end of either the morning
or evening service, in any of the old Common
Prayer Books; which all of them conclude with the third
collect. But the prayer of St. Chrysostom is at the end of
the Litany, from the very first book of king Edward ; and
the benedictory prayer from that of queen Elizabeth ; and
there also stood the prayers for the king, the royal family,
for the clergy and people, till the last review. And I suppose,
though not printed, they were always used, as now, at the
conclusion of the daily service. For after the third collect,
the Scotch Liturgy directs, that they shall follow the prayer
for the king's Majesty, with the rest of the prayers at the end
of the Litany to the benediction.
SECT. XX VI. Of 2 Cor. xiii. 14.
jcorxiii.14 THE whole service being thus finished, the
minister closes it with that benedictory prayer
of St. Paul, with which he concludes most of his Epistles : a
form of blessing which the Holy Spirit seems, by the repeated
use of it, to have delivered to the Church to be used instead
of that old Jewish form, with which the priest under the law
dismissed the congregation.* 4 The reason of its being changed
was undoubtedly owing tot the new revelation made of the
Matt XTili. 20. M Numb. vi. 23, &c.
INTRODUCTION.] OF THE LITANY. 163
three Persons in the Godhead. For otherwise the Jews both
worshipped and blessed in the name of the same God as the
Christians ; only their devotions had respect chiefly to the
Unity of the Godhead, whereas ours comprehend also the
Trinity of Persons.
. 2. I must not forget to observe, that the form Not
here used in our daily service is rather sprayer
than a blessing ; since there is no alteration either of person or
posture prescribed to the minister, but he is directed to pro-
nounce it kneeling, and to include himself as well as the people.
CHAPTER IV.
OF THE LITANY.
THE INTRODUCTION.
AFTER the order for the morning and evening The si g nification
prayer in our present Liturgy, as well as in all of the word
the old ones, stands the confession of our Chris- Lltany -
tian faith, commonly called the Creed of Atlianasius? which
hath already been spoken to : and then followeth the Litany
or general supplication to l)e sung or said after morning pray-
er, upon Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and at all
other times when it shall be commanded by the ordinary.
The word Litany, as it is explained by our present Liturgy,
signifies a general supplication ; and so it is used by the most
ancient heathens, viz. "for an earnest supplication to the gods
made in time of adverse fortune ; 2 and in the same sense it
is used in the Christian Church, viz. for a supplication and
common intercession to God, when his wrath lies heavy upon
us." 3 Such a kind of supplication was the fifty-first psalm,
which may be called David's litany. Such was that litany of
God's appointing in Joel, 4 where, in a general assembly, the
priests were to weep between the porch and the altar, and to
say, Spare thy people, O Lord : (in allusion to which place,
1 The words commonly called the Creed of Athanasius were added at the Restora-
tion. "* IloXXa 4e Kai OTrti/<5a>v xpvattf AtVai' Airai/evcv. Horn. II. *. *i'Xa>? AiTaue
TOKrjar MJiTin ovu<pf>aiaaatiau. Hesiod. Theog. s AiTavei'a W ean irapa(t\-if irpot
eeon, KOI Ueo-i'a ii bpjriv iirn/iepoMei"!"'. Symeon. Thessal. Opusc. de Haeret.
1 Joel ii. 17.
M 2
164 OF THE LITANY. [CHAP. iv.
our Litany, retaining also the same words, is enjoined, by the
royal injunctions still in force, 6 to be said or sung in the midst
why sung in the ^ *^ e church, at a low desk before the chancel
midst of the door, anciently called the failed stool. 6 ") And
such was that litany of our Saviour, 7 which he
thrice repeated with strong crying and tears. 6
The antiquity of ' 2 ' AtJ . f r the f rm in whlch the y f"" 6 nOW
litanies in thu made, viz. in short requests by the priests, to
which the people all answer, it appears to be very
ancient ; for St. Basil tells us, that litanies were read in the
church of Neocaesarea, between Gregory Thaumaturgus's time
and his own. 9 And St. Ambrose hath left a form of litany,
which bears his name, agreeing in many things with this of
" ours. For when miraculous gifts began to cease, they wrote
down several of those forms, which were the original of our
modern office.
. 3. About the year 400 they began to be used
Llt procession *" * n procession, the people walking barefoot, and
saying them with great devotion ; by which means,
it is said, several countries were delivered from great calami-
ties. 10 About the year 600, Gregory the Great, out of all the
litanies extant, composed that famous sevenfold litany, 11 by
which Rome was delivered from a grievous mortality ; 12 which
hath been a pattern to all the Western Churches since ; and
to which ours comes nearer than that in the present Roman
Missal, wherein later popes had put in the invocation of saints,
which our reformers have justly expunged. But here we must
observe, that litanies were of use before processions, and re-
mained when they were taken away. For those processional
litanies having occasioned much scandal, it was decreed "that
the litanies should for the future only be used within the walls
of the church ; " 13 and so they are used amongst us to this day.
whysaidonsun- 4 - In the Common Prayer Book of 1549,
days, Wednes- (i. e. in the first book of king Edward,) the Litany
days,and Friday*. wag pj ace( j between the communion office, and
Coll.
Note
* Injunctions of Edward VI. and of queen Elizabeth, A. D. 1559, in bishop Sparrow's
jllect. p. H and 72. See a note of bishop Andrews, in Dr. Nichols's Additional
..oten, p. 22, col. 1. ' Luke zxii. 44. Heb. v. 7. Basil. Ep. 63, ad Neocaesar.
10 Viil. Niceph. Hist. 1. H, c. 3, torn. 11. p. 443, A. " It was called Lilania tepti-
furmit, or the sevenfold litany, because he ordered the Church to make their procession
in seven classes : vis. first the clergy, then the laymen, next the monks, after the vir-
gins, then the married women, next the widows, last of all the poor and the children.
Vide Greg. lib. 11, Ep. 2, and Strabo de Offlc. Eccles. c. 28. " Paul. Diac. 1. 18, et
Balreus in Vit. Greg. Concil. Coloniens.
INTRODUCTION.] OF THE LITANY. 165
the office for baptism, with this single title, The Letany u and
Suffrages, and without any rubric either before or after it.
But at the end of the communion office the first rubric began
thus : Upon Wednesdays and Fridays the English Litany
shall be said or sung in all places, after such form as is ap-
pointed by the King's Majesty's Injunctions : or as it shall be
otherwise appointed by his Highness. What this form was I
shall mention presently from the Injunctions themselves : but
first I must observe, that Wednesdays and Fridays are here only
mentioned, which were the ancient fasting-days of the primi-
tive Church: 15 the death of Christ being designed on the
Wednesday, when he was sold by Judas, and accomplished
on the Friday, when he died on the cross. 16 As to Sunday,
I find no direction relating to it ; though I conclude from two
other rubrics, which dispense with the use of it on some par-
ticular Sundays, that it was generally used on all the rest. For
among the notes of explication at the end of that book, the
two last allow that upon Christmas-day, Easter-day, the As-
cension-day, Whit-Sunday, and the feast of Trinity, may be
used any part of holy Scripture, hereafter to be certainly
limited and appointed instead of the Litany. And that if there
be a sermon, or for other great cause, the curate by his discre-
tion may leave out the Litany, the Gloria in Excelsis, the
Creed, the Homily, and the Exhortation to the Communion.
But in the review of the Common Prayer in 1552, the Litany
was placed where it stands at this time, with direction at the
beginning, that it should be used on Sundays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays ; and at other times when it shall be commanded
by the ordinary. And the order for Sunday has continued
ever since ; I suppose partly because there is then the greatest
assembly to join in so important a supplication, and partly
that no day might seem to have a more solemn office than the
Lord's day.
.5. The particular time of the day when what time of the
it is to be said seems now different from what it day it is to be
was formerly : in king Edward's and queen Eli-
zabeth's time, it seems it was used as preparatory to the second
service. For by their Injunctions 17 it was ordered, that im-
mediately before high mass, or the time of communion of
14 So the word was spelt in all the old Common Prayer Books. 1& Clem. Alex.
Strom. 7, c. 744, B. Tertul. de Jejun. c. 2, p. 545, A. Epiphan. adv. Haeres. 1. 3, torn,
i. p. 910, B. 10 Petrus Alexandrinus, ap. Albaspinseum, 1. i. Obs. 16, p. 35, col. 1, E.
7 Sparrow's Collections, p. 8, 72.
166 OP THE LITANY. [CHAP. iv.
the sacrament, the priests with others of the quire should
kneel in the midst of the church, and sing or say plainly and
distinctly the Litany which is set forth in English, with all
the suffrages following . And even long afterwards it was a
custom in several churches to toll a bell whilst the Litany was
reading, to give notice to the people that the communion
service was coming on. 18 And indeed till the last review in
1661 the Litany was designed to be a distinct service by itself,
and to be used some time after the morning prayer was over ;
as may be gathered from the rubric before the commination
in all the old Common Prayer Books, which orders, that after
morning prayer, the people being called together by the ring-
ing of a bell, and assembled in the church, the English Litany
shall be said after the accustomed manner. This custom, as
I am informed, is still observed in some cathedrals and cha*
pels : 19 though now, for the most part, it is made one office
with the morning prayer; it being ordered by the rubric
before the prayer for the king, to be read after the third col-
lect for grace, instead of the intercession al prayers in the
daily service. Which order seems to have been formed from
the rubric before the litany in the Scotch Common Prayer
Book, which I have transcribed in the margin. 30 And ac-
cordingly we find that, as the aforementioned rubric before
the commination office is now altered, both the morning
prayer and Litany are there supposed to be read at one and
the same time.
tf.,. 6. By the fifteenth canon above mentioned,
une oui 01 every o T i i
family to attend whenever the Litany is read, every householder
dwelling within half a mile of the church, is to
come or send one at tlie least of his household fit to join with
the minister in prayers.
. 7. The posture, which the minister is to
The kneel!" to U8e m 8a yi"g tne Litany, is not prescribed in
any present rubric, except that, as it is now a
part of the morning service for the days above mentioned, it is
included in the rubric at the end of the suffrages after the
second Lord's prayer, which orders all to kneel in that place,
after which there is no direction for standing. And the In-
'" Mi-ylin'.s Antidot. Lincoln, cap. 10, sect. 3, p. 59. " As at Worcester Cathedral
and Merlon College in Oxford, where morning prayer is read at six or seven, and the
Litany at ten. *> Here followeth the Litany to be used after the third collect at
morning prayer, called the collect for grace, upon Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,
and at other times, when it shall be commanded by the Ordinary, and without the
omission of any part of the other daily service of the Church on those days.
INTRODUCTION.] OF THE LITANY. 167
junctions of king Edward and queen Elizabeth both appoint,
that the priests, with others of the choir, shall kneel in the
midst of 'the church, and sing or say plainly and distinctly
the Litany, which is set forth in English, with all the suf-
frages following , to the intent the people may hear and an-
swer, &c. 21 As to the posture of the people, nothing need to
be said in relation to that, because whenever the priest kneels,
they are always to do the same.
8. 8. The singing of this office by laymen, as
* j i .1 i i j 11 The irregularity
practised in several cathedrals and colleges, is O f singing the
certainly very unjustifiable, and deservedly gives Litan y by lay-
offence to all such as are zealous for regularity
and decency in divine worship. And therefore (since it is
plainly a practice against the express rules of our Church,
crept in partly through the indevout laziness of minor canons
and others, whose duty it is to perform that solemn office ;
and partly through the shameful negligence of those who can
and ought to correct whatever they see amiss in such matters)
it cannot surely be thought impertinent, if I take hold of this
opportunity to express my concern at so irreligious a custom.
And to shew that I am not singular in my complaint, I shall
here transcribe the words of the learned Dr. Bennet, who
hath some time since, upon a like occasion, very severely, but
with a great deal of decency, inveighed against this practice ;
though I cannot learn that he has yet been so fortunate as to
obtain much reformation.
" I think myself obliged (saith he 22 ) to take notice of a
most scandalous practice, which prevails in many such con-
gregations, as ought to be fit precedents for the whole kingdom
to follow. It is this ; that laymen, and very often young boys
of eighteen or nineteen years of age, are not only permitted,
but obliged to perform this office, which is one of the most
solemn parts of divine service, even though many priests and
deacons are at the same time present..
" Those persons upon whom it must be charged, and in
whose power it is to rectify it, cannot but know that this
practice is illegal, as well as abominable in itself, and a flat
contradiction to all primitive order. And one would think,
when the nation swarms with such as ridicule, oppose, and
deny the distinction of clergy and laity ; those who possess
81 See Bishop Sparrow, as in page 165, note 17 . n Upon the Common Prayer,
page 94.
168 OF THE LITANY. [CHAP. iv.
some of the largest and most honourable preferments in the
Church, should be ashamed to betray her into the hands of
her professed enemies, and to put arguments into their mouths,
and declare by their actions that they think any layman what-
soever as truly authorized to minister in holy things as those
who are regularly ordained. Besides, with what face can
those persons blame the dissenting teachers for officiating
without episcopal ordination, when they themselves do not
only allow of but require the same thing? "
SECT. I. Of the Invocation.
WE have a divine command to call upon God
' for mercy in the time of trouble; 23 and all the
litanies I have seen begin with this solemn word, K6ptc iXtriaov,
Lord have mercy upon us. So that this invocation is the sum
of the whole Litany, being a particular address for mercy, first
to each person in the glorious Trinity, and then to them all
together. The address being urged by two motives, viz. first,
because we are miserable ; and secondly, because we are
sinners; upon both which accounts we extremely need mercy,
why repeated by 2 - The desi g n of the , people's repeating
the whole con- these whole verses after the mims f er is, that
every one may first crave to be heard in his own
words : which when they have obtained, they may leave it to
the priest to set forth all their needs to Almighty God, pro-
vided that they declare their assent to every petition as he
delivers it.
SECT. II. Of the Deprecations.
HAVING opened the way by the preceding invo-
The tu>ns eca cation, we now begin to ask : and because deli-
verance from evil is the first step to felicity, we
begin with these deprecations for removing it. Both the
Eastern and Western Church begin their litanies after the same
manner, 24 theirs as well as ours being a paraphrase upon that
petition in the Lord's prayer, deliver us from evil.
. 2. But because our requests ought to as-
T1 of them** 1 cen d by degrees ; before we ask for a perfect
deliverance, we beg the mercy of forbearance.
For we confess we have sinned rvith our fathers, and that
therefore God may justly punish us, not only for our own
James v. IS. * Liturg. S. Chrysos. et S. Basil. Miss, tec. Us. Sarisb.
SECT, ii.] OF THE LITANY. 169
sins, but for theirs also, which we have made our own by
imitation : for which reason we beg of him not to remember,
or take vengeance of us for them, especially since he has him-
self so dearly purchased our pardon with his own most
precious blood. But however if we cannot obtain to be
wholly spared, but that he may see it good for us to be a
little under chastisement ; then we beg his correction may be
short, and soon removed, and that he would not be angry
with us for ever.
And the sum of all that we pray against being deliverance
from the evils of sin and punishment, we begin the next pe-
tition with two general words which comprehend both : for
evil and mischief signify wickedness and misery : and as the
first is caused by the crafts and assaults of the Devil, so the
second is brought upon us by the just wrath of God here, and
completed by everlasting damnation hereafter : and therefore
we desire to be delivered both from sin and the punishment
of it ; as well from the causes that lead to it, as the conse-
quences that follow it.
After we have thus prayed against sin and misery in general,
we descend regularly to the particulars, reckoning divers
kinds of the most notorious sins, some of which have their
seat in the heart or mind, and others in the body. And first
we begin against those of the heart, where all sins begin, and
there recount first the sins concerning ourselves : and, se-
condly, those concerning our neighbours. Of the former sort
are blindness of heart, (which we place in the front as the
cause of all the rest,) and pride, vainglory, and hypocrisy,
which are united together in this deprecation, as vices which
generally accompany one another. Of the other sort are
envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness , in which
words are comprehended all those sins which we do, or can,
commit against our neighbour in our hearts.
From the heart sin spreads further into the life and actions,
and thither our Litany now pursues it, beginning with that
which St. Paul reckons first among the works of the flesh, 25
but which is notwithstanding the boldest and most barefaced
sin in this lewd age, viz. fornication, which is not be re-
strained to the defiling of single persons, but comprehends
under it all acts of uncleanness whatsoever. But though this
be a deadly sin, yet it is not the only one, and therefore we
45 Gal. v. 29.
170 OF THE LITANY. [CHAP. IT.
pray to be delivered from all other deadly sins ;
De J!?lT l Jfl.,T hat W which we understand not such as are deadly
" klgulllco. * /> 1 1 1
by way of distinction, or as they stand in opposi-
tion to venial sins, (for there are no sins venial in their own
nature,) but such as are those which David calls presumptu-
ous, and begs particular preservation from, 26 or those which
are most heinous and crying above others. For though every
sin deserves damnation in its own nature, yet we know that
the infinite goodness of God will not inflict it for every sin.
But then there are some sins so exceeding great, that they are
inconsistent even with the gospel-clemency, and immediately
render a man obnoxious to the wrath of God, and in danger
of eternal damnation. And these are they which we pray
against, together with all other sins, which we are apt to fall
into through the deceits of OUT three great enemies, which we
renounced in baptism, the world, the flesh, and the Devil.
When the cause is removed, there are hopes the conse-
quences may be prevented : and therefore, after we have pe-
titioned against all sin, we may regularly pray against all those
judgments with which God generally scourges those who of-
fend him; whether they are such as fall upon whole na-
tions and kingdoms, and either come immediately from the
hand of God, as lightning and tempest, plague, pestilence,
and famine : or else are inflicted by the hands of wicked
men, as his instruments, as battle and murder.- or whether
they are such as fall upon particular persons only, as sudden
why we pray death; such as happens sometimes by violence,
against sudden as by stabbing, burning, drowning, or the like ;
or else on a sudden, and in a moment's time,
without any warning or apparent cause. And though both
these kinds of death may sometimes happen to very good
men, yet if we consider that by such means we may leave our
relations without comfort, and our affairs unsettled ; and may
ourselves be deprived of the preparative ordinances for
death, and have no time to fit our souls for our great ac-
count ; prudence as well as humility will teach us to pray
against them.
Having thus deprecated those evils which might endanger
our lives, we proceed next to pray against such as would de-
prive us of our peace and truth : as well those which are
levelled at the state, as is all sedition, privy conspiracy, and
** Psalm xix. 13.
SZCT. ii.] OF THE LITANY. 171
rebellion as those which portend the ruin of the Church, as
all false doctrine, heresy, and schism. 21 And then we con-
clude with the last and worst of God's judgments, which he
generally inflicts upon those whom neither private nor public
calamities will reform, viz. hardness of heart, and contempt
of his word and commandment : for when people amend not
upon those punishments which are inflicted upon their estates
and persons, upon the Church and State ; then the patience of
God is tired out, and he withdraws his grace, and gives them
up to a reprobate sense, the usual prologue to destruction and
damnation, from which deplorable state, good Lord deliver us.
And now to be delivered from all these great and grievous
evils, is a mercy so very desirable, that it ought to be begged
by the most importunate kind of supplication imaginable ; and
such are the two next petitions, which the Latins call Obse-
crations, in which the Church beseeches our dear Redeemer
to deliver us from all the evils we have been praying against,
by the mystery of his holy incarnation, &c., i. e. she lays be-
fore our Lord all his former mercies to us expressed in his
incarnation, nativity, circumcision, baptism, and in every
thing else which he has done and suffered for us ; and offers
these considerations to move him to grant our requests, and
to deliver us from those evils.
And though we are always either under or near some evil,
for which reason it is never unseasonable to pray for deliver-
ance; yet there are some particular times when we stand in
more especial need of the divine help : and they are either
during our lives, or at our deaths. During our lives we par-
ticularly want the divine assistance, first in all times of tribu-
lation, when we are usually tempted to murmuring, impatience,
sadness, despair, and the like ; and these we pray against now,
before the evil day comes : not that God would deliver us
from all such times, which would be an unlawful request ; but
that he would support us under them whenever he shall
please to inflict them. The other part of our lives which we
pray to be delivered in, is all time of our wealth, i. e. of our
welfare and prosperity, which are rather more dangerous than
our time of adversity : all kinds of prosperity, especially plenty
77 Rebellion, tchism.] Both these words were added in the review after the restora-
tion of king Charles II., to deprecate for the future the like subversion of Church and
State to what they had then so lately felt. After priry conspiracy in both Common
Prayer Books of king Edward VI. followed, from the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome,
and all hit detestable enormities : but this has ever since been omitted.
172 OF THE LITANY. [CHAP. iv.
and abundance, being exceedingly apt to increase our pride,
to inflame our lusts, to multiply our sins, and in a word, to
make us forget God, and grow careless of our souls. And
therefore we had need to pray that in all such times God would
be pleased to deliver us. But whether we spend our days in
prosperity or adversity, they must all end in death, in the
hour of which the Devil is always most active, and we least
able to resist him. Our pains are grievous, and our fears
many, and the danger great of falling into impatience, de-
spair, or security : and therefore we constantly pray for de-
liverance in that important hour, which if God grant us, we
have but one request more, and that is, that he would also
deliver us in the day of judgment; which is the last time a
man is capable of deliverance, since if we be not delivered
then, we are left to perish eternally. How fervently there-
fore ought we to pray for ourselves all our life long, as St.
Paul prayed for Onesiphorus,* 8 that the Lord mould grant
unto us that we may find mercy of the Lord in that day !
SECT. III. Of the Intercessions.
IP the institution of God be required to make
this P art f our Litany necessary, we have his
positive command by St. Paul, to make inter-
cession for all men , s9 and if the consent of the universal
Church can add any thing to its esteem, it is evident that this
kind of prayer is in all the Liturgies in the world, and that
every one of the petitions we are now going to discourse of are
taken from the best and oldest litanies extant. All therefore
that will be necessary here, is to shew the admirable method
and order of these intercessions, which are so exact, curious,
and natural, that every degree of men follow in their due
place ; and, at the same time, so comprehensive, that we can
think of no sorts of persons but who are enumerated, and for
whom all those things are asked which all and every of them
stand in need of.
. 2. But because it may seem presumptuous for
d us to pray for others, who are unworthy to pray
for ourselves, before we begin, we acknowledge
that we are sinners : but yet, if we are penitent, we know our
prayers will be acceptable : and therefore in humble confi-
dence of his mercy, and in obedience to his command,
2 Tim. I. 18. *> 1 Tim. ii. 1.
SECT, in.] OF THE LITANY. 173
We sinners do beseech him to hear us in these our interces-
sions, which we offer up, first, for the holy Church universal,
the common mother of all Christians, as thinking ourselves
more concerned for the good of the whole, than of any par-
ticular part. After this, we pray for our own Church, to
which, next the catholic Church, we owe the greatest observ-
ance and duty ; and therein, in the first place, for the princi-
pal members of it, in whose welfare the peace of the Church
chiefly consists : such as is the king, whom, because he is the
supreme governor of the Church in his dominions, and so the
greatest security upon earth to the true religion, we pray for
in the three next petitions, that he may be orthodox, pious, and
prosperous. 30 And though at present we may be happy under
him ; yet because his crown doth not render him immortal,
and the security of the government ordinarily depends upon
the royal family, we pray in the next place for them, (and
particularly for the heir apparent,) that they may be supplied
with all spiritual blessings, and preserved -from all plots and
dangers. 31
The Jews and Gentiles always reckoned their chief priests
to be next in dignity to the king ; M and all ancient Liturgies
pray for the clergy immediately after the royal family, as be-
ing the most considerable members of the Christian Church,
distinguished here into those three apostolical orders of bi-
shops, priests, and deacons , though in all former Common
Prayer Books they were called the bishops, pastors, and min-
isters of the Church, except in the Scotch Liturgy, which for
pastors had presbyters.
Next to these follow those who are eminent in the state, viz..
the lords of the council and all tlie nobility, who by reason of
their dignity and trust have need of our particular prayers, and
were always prayed for in the old Liturgies, by the title of
tJte whole palace.
After we have prayed for all the nobility in general, we pray
for such of the nobility and gentry as are magistrates, or more
inferior governors of the people, according to the example of
the primitive Christians, and in obedience to the positive com-
mand of St. Paul, who enjoins us to pray for all that are in
authority. 33
M In king Edward's Liturgies the first petition for the king was only this : Thai it
may vlease thee to keep Edward the Sixth, thy servant, our king and+goternor.
31 This petition was not added till king James the First's time, for a reason given in
the section upon the prayer for the royal family in the daily service.
Alex, ab Alex. 1. 2, e. 8. ** 1 Tim. ii. 2.
174 OF THE LITANY. [CHAP. iv.
After these we pray for all the people, i. e. all the commons
of the land, who are the most numerous, though the least
eminent ; and unless they be safe and happy, the governors
themselves cannot be prosperous, the diseases of the members
being a trouble to the head also.
And though we may be allowed to pray for our own nation
first, yet our prayers must extend to all mankind ; and there-
fore in the next place we pray for the whole world, in the
very words of ancient Liturgies, viz. that all nations may have
unity at home among themselves, peace with one another, and
concord, i. e. amity, commerce, and leagues.
Having thus prayed for temporal blessings both for ourselves
and others, it is time now to look inward, and to consider what
is wanting for our souls ; and therefore we now proceed to
pray for spiritual blessings, such as virtue and goodness. And,
first, we pray that the principles of it may be planted in our
hearts, viz. the love and dread of God, and then that the prac-
tice of it may be seen in our lives, by our diligent living after
his commandments.
But though we receive grace, yet if we do not improve it,
we shall be in danger of losing it again ; and therefore having
in the fomer petition desired that we might become good, we
subjoin this that we may grow better : begging increase of
grace, and also that we may use proper means thereunto, such
as is the meekly hearing God's word, &c.
From praying for the sanctification and improvement of
those within the Church, we become solicitous for the conver-
sion of those that are without it ; being desirous that all should
be brought into the may of truth mho have erred or are de-
ceived.
But though those without the Church are the most miser-
able, yet those within are not yet so happy as not to need our
prayers ; some of them standing in need of strength, and
others of comfort : these blessings therefore we now ask for
those that want them.
Having thus considered the souls of men, we go on next to
such things as concern their bodies, an^l to pray for all the
afflicted in general ; begging of God to succour all that are in
danger, by preventing the mischief that is falling upon them ;
to help those that are in necessity, by giving them those bless-
ings they want ; and to comfort all that are in tribulation, by
supporting them under it, and delivering them out of it.
And because the circumstances of some of these hinder them
SECT, in.] OF THE LITANY. 175
from being present to pray for themselves ; we particularly
remember them, since they more especially stand in need of
our prayers, such as are all that travel by land or by water,
and the rest mentioned in that petition.
There are other afflicted persons who are unable to help
themselves, such as are fatherless children and widows, who
are too often destitute of earthly friends ; and such as are de-
solate of maintenance and lodging ; or are oppressed by the
false and cruel dealings of wicked and powerful men; and
therefore these also we particularly recommend to God, and
beg of him to defend and provide for them.
And after this large catalogue of sufferers as well in spi-
ritual as temporal things ; lest any should be passed who are
already under or in danger of any affliction, we pray next that
God would have mercy upon all men.
And then, to shew we have no reserve or exception in our
charity or devotions, we pray particularly for our enemies,
persecutors, and slanderers ; who we desire may be partakers
of all the blessings we have been praying for, and that God
would moreover forgive them, and turn their hearts.
After we have thus prayed, first for ourselves and then for
others, we proceed to pray for them and ourselves together :
begging, first, whatsoever is necessary for the sustenance of
our bodies, comprehended here under the fruits of the earth.
And then, in the next petition, asking for all things neces-
sary to our souls, in order to bring them to eternal happiness,
viz. true repentance, forgiveness of all our sins, &c., and
amendment of life. Which last petition is very proper for a
conclusion. For we know that if we do not amend our lives,
all these intercessions will signify nothing, because God will
not hear impenitent sinners. We therefore earnestly beg re-
pentance and amendment of life, that so all our preceding re-
quests may not miscarry.
And now having presented so many excellent supplications
to the throne of grace ; if we should conclude them here, and
leave them abruptly, it would look as if we were not much
concerned whether they were received or not : and therefore
the Church has appointed us to pursue them still with vigorous
importunities, and redoubled entreaties. And for this reason
we now call upon our Saviour, whom we have all this while
been praying to, and beseech him by his divinity, as he is the
Son of God, and consequently abundantly able to help us in
176 OF THE LITANY. [CHAP. iv.
all these things, that he would hear us : and then afterwards
invocate him by his humanity, beseeching him by his suffer-
ings for us, when he became the Lamb of God, and was sacri-
ficed to take amay the sins of the world, that he would grant
us an interest in that peace, which he then made with God,
and the peace of conscience following thereupon ; and that he
would have mercy upon us, and take away our sins, so as to
deliver us from guilt and punishment. And lastly, we beg of
him, as he is the Lord Christ, our anointed Mediator, to hear us,
and favour us with a gracious answer to all these intercessions.
Finally, that our conclusion may be suitable to our begin-
ning, we close up all with an address to the whole Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for that mercy which we have
been begging in so many particulars : this one word compre-
hends them all, and therefore these three sentences are the
epitome of the whole Litany ; and considering how often and
how many ways we need mercy, we can never ask it too often.
But of these see more in the former chapter, sect. xvi.
SECT. IV. Of the Supplications.
The original of '^ HK following part of this Litany we call the
the suppiica- supplications , which were first collected, and put
into this form, when the barbarous nations first
began to overrun the empire, about six hundred years after
Christ : but considering the troubles of the Church militant,
and the many enemies it always hath in this world, this part
of the Litany is no less suitable than the former at all times
whatsoever.
. 2. We begin with the Lord's prayer, of
T prayer. ds which we have spoke before, 34 and need only ob-
serve here, that the ancients annexed it to every
office, to shew both their esteem of that, and their mean
opinion of their own composures, which receive life and value
from this divine form.
. 3. After this, we proceed to beg deliver-
deAinot,&e. ance from our troubles: but because our con-
sciences presently suggest, that our iniquities
deserve much greater, and that therefore we cannot expect to
be delivered, since we suffer so justly ; we are
^wd^us, 1 *""" P ut in mmc l tli at God doth not deal with us after
our sins, nor reward us according to our ini-
3i Chap. ill. sect. vi. page 12S.
SECT, iv.] OF THE LITANY. 177
quities. And therefore we turn these very words into sup-
plication, and thereby clear his justice in punishing us, but
apply to his mercy to proportion his chastisements according
to our ability of bearing, and not according to the desert of
our offences.
. 4. The way being thus prepared, the priest -j^ prayer
now begins to pray for the people alone : but lest against persecu-
they should think their duty at an end, as soon tlon '
as the responses are over, he enjoins them to accompany him in
their hearts still by that ancient form Let us pray : x and
then proceeds to the prayer against persecution, which is col-
lected partly out of the Scripture, and partly out of the primi-
tive forms, and is still to be found entire among the offices of
the Western Church, with the title, For tribulation of heart.
It is not concluded with Amen, to shew that ^ ns o Lord
the same request is continued in another form : arise, &c. for'tny
and what the priest begged before alone, all the name ' 8 sake-
people join to ask in the following alternate supplications
taken from the Psalms. 38 When our enemies are rising against
us to destroy us, we desire that God will arise and help us,
not for any worthiness in ourselves, but for his name's sake,
that he may make his power to be known.
. 5. Whilst the people are praying thus earn-
estly, the priest, to quicken their faith by another hweheard, &c.
divine sentence, 40 commemorates the great trou-
bles, adversities, and persecutions, which God hath delivered
his Church from in all ages : and since he is the same Lord,
and we have the same occasion, this is laid down as the ground
of our future hope.
For the wonderful relations which me have lieard with our
ears, and our fathers have declared unto us, of God's res-
cuing this particular Church at first from popery, and of his
delivering and preserving it ever since from faction and su-
perstition, from so many secret seditions and open rebellions,
fully assure us that his arm is not shortened.
And therefore the people again say, O Lord, Ani o Lord
arise, help us, and deliver us for thine honour; arise, & c . for'
which is no vain repetition, but a testimony that thine honour '
35 Psalm ciii. 10. Let us pray.] In ancient Liturgies these words often served
as a mark of transition from one sort of prayer to another, viz. from what the Latins
call preces, to what they term oratianet: ihepreces were those alternate petitions which
passed conjointly between the priest and people; the orationet were those that were
said by the priest alone, the people only answering Amen. 37 Miss. Sarisb.
38 Psalm xliv. 26, and Ixxix, 9. Psalm cvi. 8. * Psalm xliv. 1.
N
178 OF THE LITANY. [CHAP. iv.
they are convinced they did wisely to ask of this God (who
hath done so great things for his people in all ages) now to
arise and help ; that so the honour he hath gotten by the
wonders of his mercy may be renewed and' confirmed by this
new act of his power and goodness.
. 6. To this is added the Doxology in imita-
G p3hw, &*" tion of David, who would often, in the very midst
of his complaints, out of a firm persuasion that
God would hear him, suddenly break out into an act of praise. 41
And thus we, having the same God to pray to, in the midst of
our mournful supplications, do not only look back on former
blessings with joy and comfort, but forward also on the mer-
cies we now pray for : and though we have not yet received
them, yet we praise him for them beforehand, and doubt not,
but that, as he was glorified in the beginning for past mercies,
so he ought to be now for the present, and shall be hereafter
for future blessings.
. 7. But though the faithful do firmly believe,
" 8 that the y sha11 be delivered at the last, and do at
present rejoice in hopes thereof; yet because it is
probable their afflictions may be continued for a while for a trial
of their patience, and the exercise of their other graces ; for
that reason we continue to pray for support in the mean time,
and beg of Christ to defend us from our enemies, and to look
graciously upon our afflictions ; pitifully to behold the sor-
rows of our hearts, and mercifully to forgive our sins, which
are the cause of them.
And this we know he will do, if our prayers be accepted ;
and therefore we beg of him favourably with mercy to hear
them, and do beseech him, as he assumed our nature, and
became* the Son of David, (whereby he took on him our in-
firmities, and became acquainted with our griefs,) to have
mercy upon us.
And because the hearing of our prayers in the time of dis-
tress is so desirable a mercy, that we cannot ask it too fer-
vently nor too often ; we therefore redouble our cries, and
beg of him as he is Christ, our anointed Lord and Saviour,
that he would vouchsafe to hear us now, and whenever we
cry to him for relief in our troubles. And, to shew we rely
on no other helper, we conclude these supplications with Da-
vid's words in a like case, 42 Lord, let thy mercy be shewed
41 Pulm vi. 8, and xxii. 22, &c. Psalm xxxiii. 21.
iECT. v.] OF THE LITANY. 179
upon us, as roe do put our trust in thee. To him, and to him
only, we have applied ourselves ; and as we have no other
hope but in him, so we may expect that this hope shall be ful-
filled, and that we shall certainly be delivered in his due time.
. 8. The whole congregation having thus ad- The prayer for
dressed the Son ; the priest now calls upon us to sanctifying out
make our application to the Father (who knows tr
as well what we suffer as what we can bear) in a most fervent
form of address, composed at first by St. Gregory above one
thousand one hundred years ago, 43 but afterwards corrupted
by the Romish Church, by the addition of the intercession of
saints, 41 which our reformers have left out, not only restoring,
but improving the form.
SECT. V. Of the Prayer of St. Chrysostom, and
2 Cor. xiii. 14.
THE Litany, as I have already observed, was
* i j- J i_ -j. if j j Tne prayer of
formerly a distinct service by itself, and was used saint chrysos-
generally after morning prayer was over; and torn, and 2 Cor.
then these two final prayers belonged particu-
larly to this service. But it being now used almost every
where with the morning prayer, these latter collects being
omitted there (after some occasional prayers, which shall be
spoken of next) come in here ; and how fit they are for this
place may be seen by what is said of them already.
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV.
OF THE OCCASIONAL PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS.
SECT. I. Of the six first Occasional Prayers.
THE usual calamities which afflict the world
are so exactly enumerated in the preceding Li- casfonS Prayers!
tany, and the common necessities of mankind so
orderly set down there ; that there seems to be no need of
any additional prayers to complete so perfect an office. But
yet because the variety of the particulars allows them but a
bare mention in that comprehensive form ; the Church hath
thought good to enlarge our petitions in some instances, be-
43 Sacram. S. Greg. torn. ii. col. 1535, B. M Miss. Sarisb.
N 2
180 OF THE OCCASIONAL PRAYERS [APP. TO CHAP. ir.
cause there are some evils so universal and grievous, that it is
necessary they should be deprecated with a peculiar impor-
tunity ; and some mercies so exceeding needful at some times,
that it is not satisfactory enough to include our desires of them
among our general requests ; but very requisite that we should
more solemnly petition for them in forms proper to the seve-
ral occasions. Thus it seems to have been among the Jews :
for that famous prayer which Solomon made at the dedication
of the temple, 45 supposes that special prayers would be made
there in times of war, drought, pestilence, and famine. And
the light of nature taught the Gentiles, on such extraordinary
occasions, to make extraordinary addresses to their gods.* 6
Nor are Christians to be thought less mindful of their own
necessities. The Greek Church hath full and proper offices
for times of drought and famine, of war and tumults, of pes-
tilence and mortality, and upon occasion of earthquakes also,
a judgment very frequent there, but more seldom in this part
of the world. In the Western Missals there is a Collect, and
an Epistle and Gospel, with some responses upon every one
of these subjects, seldom indeed agreeing with any of our
forms, which are the shortest of all ; being not designed for a
complete office, but appointed to be joined to the Litany, or
Morning and Evening Prayer, every day while the occasion
requires it; that so, according to the laws of Charles the
Great, " in times of famine, plague, and war, the mercy of
God may be immediately implored, without staying for the
king's edict." 47
. 2. The two first of these prayers, viz. those
When first added. /. 3 . , ,. ,. . .,
for rain and for fair weather, are placed after the
six collects at the end of the communion office, in the first book
of king Edward VI. The other four were added afterwards
to his second book, in which they were all six placed, as now,
at the end of the Litany. But in the old Common Prayer
Book of queen Elizabeth and king James I., the second of the
prayers in the time of dearth and famine was omitted, and
not inserted again till the restoration of king Charles II.
SECT. II. Of the Prayers in the Ember- Weeks.
The Prayen in THE ordination of ministers is a matter of so
the Ember- great concern to all degrees of men, that it has
ever been done with great solemnity : and by
"1 King* vill. 33, 35, 37. Lmctant. Inst.l. !, c. 1, p. 1J5. Capitular, lib. I.e. 118.
SECT, in.] AND THANKSGIVINGS. 181
the thirty-first canon of the Church it is appointed, That no
deacons and ministers be made and ordained, but only upon
the Sundays immediately 'folio wing jejuniaquatuor temporum,
commonly called Ember- Weeks. And since the whole nation
is obliged, at these times, to extraordinary prayer and fasting ;
the Church hath provided two forms upon the occasion, of
which the first is most proper to be used before the candidates
have passed their examination, and the other afterwards.
They were both added to our Common Prayer
Book at the last review ; though the second oc-
curs in the Scotch Liturgy, just before the prayer of St. Chry-
sostom, at the end of the Litany.
As to the original, antiquity, and reason of these four em-
ber-fasts, and the fixing the ordination of ministers at those
times, I shall take occasion to speak hereafter ; and shall only
observe further in this place, that it is a mistake in those who
imagine that these prayers are only to be used upon the three
ember-days, i. e. upon the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday
in every ember-week ; the rubric expressing as plain as words
can do, that one of them is to be said every day in the ember-
weeks, i. e. beginning (as it is expressed in the Scotch Litur-
gy) on the Sunday before tlie day of ordination.
SECT. III. Of the Prayer that may be said after any of the former.
THIS prayer was first added in queen Eliza-
1,1, /-, J T> TI J.LI. j Wbenfirstadded.
beth s Common Prayer Book, and not by order
of king James I., as Dr. Nichols affirms. When it was first
inserted, it was placed just after the prayer in the time of any
common plague or sickness, (that being then the last of the
prayers upon particular occasions,) but at the review after the
Restoration, the two prayers for the ember- weeks were inserted
just after that, and the collect we are speaking of ordered to
be placed immediately after those prayers. The printers indeed
set it in the place where it now usually stands, viz. between
the prayers for all conditions of men and the general thanks-
giving , but the commissioners obliged them to strike it out,
and print a new leaf, wherein it should stand just before the
prayer for the parliament. But notwithstanding
ii 11 ii V 11 .1 j Wrong placed in
this, in all the following impressions, this order a ii the editions
was again neglected, and the prayer that we are f the common
ni 11 j-,- r J Prayer.
speaking ot has, in all editions ever since, been
continued in the same place, viz. just after the prayer for all
182 OF THE OCCASIONAL PRAYERS [APP. TO CHAP. IT.
conditions of men. But as no edition of the Common Prayer
is authorized by act of parliament, but such as is exactly con-
formable to the Sealed Books ; 1B we cannot justify ourselves
in using it after that prayer, since the Sealed Books assign it
a quite different place.
SECT. IV. Of the Prayer for the High Court of Parliament.
The prayer for THOUGH the ancient monarchs of this king-
the high court of dom, Saxons and Normans, coming in by con
parliament. quest, governed according to their own will at
first ; yet in after times they chose themselves a great coun-
cil of their bishops and barons, and at last freely condescend-
ed to let the people choose persons to represent them : so
that we have now had parliaments for above four hundred
years, consisting of bishops and barons to represent the clergy
and nobility, and of knights and burgesses to represent the
commons. But these being never summoned but when the
king or queen desires their advice, de arduis regni negotiis,
and they having at such times great affairs under their debate,
and happy opportunities to do both their prince and country
service ; it is fit they should have the people's prayers for
their success. And accordingly we find not only that the
primitive Christians prayed for the Roman senate, 49 but that
even the Gentiles offered sacrifices in behalf of their public
councils, which were always held in some sacred place. 40 In
conformity therefore to so ancient and universal a practice, this
prayer for our own parliament was added at the last review.
SECT. V. Of the Prayer for all Conditions of Men.
BEFORE the addition of this prayer, which was
made but at the | ast review, the Church had no
general intercession for all conditions of men,
except on those days upon which the Litany was appointed.
For which reason this collect was then drawn up, to supply
the want of that office upon ordinary days ; and therefore it is
ordered by the rubric to be used at such times, when the
Litany is not appointed to be said: consonant to which it is
whether to be now * believe, a universal practice, and a very
used in the after- reasonable one, I think, to read this prayer every
evening, as well as on such mornings as the Li-
*' To understand what is meant by the Sealed Books, ice a clause toward the end of
the Act of Uniformity. Tertull. Apologet. Al. ab Alex. Gen. Dier. 1. 4, c.
11. Aul. Cell. 1. U,c. 7.
SECT, vi.] AND THANKSGIVINGS. 183
tany is not said : though Dr. Bisse informs us, 51 that " bishop
Gunning, the supposed author of it, in the college whereof he
was head, suffered it not to be read in the afternoon, because
the Litany was never read then, the place of which it was sup-
posed to supply." I know this form has been generally
ascribed to bishop Sanderson : but the above-mentioned gen-
tleman assures me, that it is a tradition at St. John's in
Cambridge, that bishop Gunning, who was for some time
master there, was the author, and that in his time it was the
practice of the college not to read it in the afternoon. And
I have heard elsewhere, that it was originally drawn up much
longer than it is now, and that the throwing out a great part
of it, which consisted of petitions for the king, the royal
family, clergy, &c., who are prayed for in the other collects,
was the occasion why the word finally comes in so soon in
so short a prayer. It is not improbable, that the bishop
might have designed to comprehend all the intercessional col-
lects in one : but that the others who were commissioned for
the same affair, might think it better to retain the old forms,
and so only to take as much of bishop Gunning's as was not
comprehended in the rest.
. 2. There being a particular clause pro-
vided in this prayer, to be said when any desire ^"visitation'
the prayers of the congregation, it is needless as office not to be
,f y . / , V 9 ' used here.
well as irregular to use any collects out or the
Visitation Office upon these occasions ; as some are accustom-
ed to do, without observing the impropriety they are guilty of
in using those forms in the public congregations, which are
drawn up to be used in private, and run in terms that suppose
the sick person to be present.
SECT. VI. Of the Thanksgivings.
PEAISE is one of the most essential parts of
God's worship, by which not only all the Christian ofthlnlsgivS^.
world, but the Jews and Gentiles also paid their
homage to the Divine Majesty ; as might be shewed by innu-
merable testimonieo : and indeed considering how many
blessings we daily receive from God, and that he expects no-
thing else from us in return but the easy tribute of love and
gratitude, (a duty that no one can want leisure or ability to
perform,) it is certain no excuse can be made for the omission
" Beauty of Holiness in the Common Prayer, p. 97, in the notes.
184 OP THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
of it. It is pleasant in the performance, 52 and profitable in
the event ; for it engages our great Benefactor to continue
the mercies we have, and as well inclines him to give, as fits
us to receive more. 83
These forms of ^' Therefore for the performance of this
thanksgiving, duty the reverend compilers of our Liturgy had
appointed the Hallelujah, the Gloria Patri, and
the daily psalms and hymns. But because some thought that
we did not praise God so particularly as we ought to have
done upon extraordinary occasions, some particular thanks-
givings upon deliverance from drought, rain, famine, mar,
tumults, and pestilence, were added in the time of king James
I. And to give more satisfaction still, by removing all shadows
of defect from our Liturgy, there was one general thanks-
giving added to the last review for daily use, drawn up (as it
is said) by bishop Sanderson, and so admirably composed,
that it is fit to be said by all men who would give God thanks
for common blessings, and yet peculiarly provided with a proper
clause for those who, having received some eminent personal
mercy, desire to offer up their public praise : a duty which
none, that have had the prayers of the Church, should ever
omit after their recovery, lest they incur the reprehension
given by our Saviour to the ungrateful lepers recorded in the
Gospel, Were there not ten cleansed ? but where are the nine ? u
CHAPTER V.
OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS,
AMD Till IH SKVUI U.
COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS.
THE INTRODUCTION.
THE Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, to be used (at the
celebration of the Lord's Supper, and Holy Communion,
as it was said in all the old Common Prayer Books) through-
out the year, standing next in order in the Common Prayer
Book, come now to be treated of: but because they are sel-
dom used but upon Sundays and Holy-days, it is necessary
* Pulm cxlvil. 1. Psalm UriL 5, 6, 7. M Luke xril. 17.
INTROD.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 185
something should be premised concerning the reasons and
original of the more solemn observation of those days in ge-
neral. And first,
I. Of Sundays in general.
ONE day in seven seems from the very beginning .
i * -i i /~iii i IT one day m se -
to have been sanctified by God, 1 and commanded ven, why kept
to be set apart for the exercise of religious duties. holy>
All the mysteries of it perhaps are beyond our comprehension :
but to be sure one design of it was that men, by thus sancti-
fying the seventh day, after they had spent six in labour,
might shew themselves to be worshippers of that God only,
who rested the seventh day, after he had finished the heavens
and the earth in six.
. 2. The reasons why the Jews were com- Saturday> why
manded to observe the Seventh-day, or Satur- the Jewish sab-
day, in particular for their Sabbath, were pecu- bath-
liar and proper to themselves : it was on this day God had
delivered them from their Egyptian bondage, and over-
whelmed Pharaoh and his host in the Bed Sea : so that no
day could be more properly set apart to celebrate the mercies
and goodness of God, than that, on which he himself chose to
confer upon them the greatest blessing they enjoyed.
. 3. But the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt Sunday> why
by the ministry of Moses, was only intended for observed by the
a type and pledge of a spiritual deliverance which C1
was to come by Christ : their Canaan also was no more than
a type of that heavenly Canaan, which the redeemed by Christ
do look for. Since therefore the shadow is made void by the
coming of the substance, the relation is changed ; and God is
no more to be worshipped and believed in, as a God foreshew-
ing and assuring by types, but as a God who hath performed
the substance of what he promised. The Christians indeed,
as well as the Jews, are to observe the moral equity of the
fourth commandment, and, after six days spent in their own
works, are to sanctify the seventh : but in the designation of
the particular day, they may and ought to differ. For if the
Jews were to sanctify the seventh day, only because they had
on that day a temporal deliverance as a pledge of a spiritual
one ; the Christians surely have much greater reasons to sanc-
tify the first, since on that very day God redeemed us from
> Genesis ii. 3.
186 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
this spiritual thraldom, by raising Jesus Christ our Lord from
the dead, and begetting us, instead of an earthly Canaan, to
an inJteritance incorruptible in the heavens. And accord-
ingly we have the concurrent testimonies both of Scripture*
and antiquity, 3 that the first day of the week, or Sunday,
hath ever been the stated and solemn time of the Christians
meeting for their public worship and service.
. 4. In the East indeed, where the Gospel
Md U h^observ- chiefly prevailed among the Jews, who retained
ed by the Eastern a great reverence for the Mosaic rites, the Church
thought fit to indulge the humour of the Judaiz-
ing Christians so far as to observe the Saturday as a festival
day of devotions, and thereon to meet for the exercise of re-
ligious duties: as is plain from several passages of the ancients. 4
But however, to prevent giving any offence to others, they
openly declared, that they observed it in a Christian way, and
not as a Jewish Sabbath. 5 And this custom was so far from
being universal, that at the same time all over the West, ex-
cept at Milan in Italy, 6 Saturday was kept as a fast, 7 (as being
the day on which our Lord lay dead in the grave,) and is still,
for the same reason, appointed for one of the fast-days in the
ember-weeks by the Church of England ; which, in imitation
both of the Eastern and Western Churches, always reserves
to the Sunday the more solemn acts of public worship and
devotion.
ILOfour Saviour's Holy-days in general.
Our Saviour's ^ UT besides the weekly return of Sunday,
Holy-days in (whereon we celebrate God's goodness and mer-
cies set forth in our creation and redemption in
general,) the Church hath set apart some days yearly for the
more particular remembrance of some special acts and pas-
sages of our Lord in the redemption of mankind ; such as are
his incarnation and nativity, circumcision, manifestation to the
Gentiles, presentation in the temple ; his fasting, passion, re-
surrection, and ascension ; the sending oftlie Holy Ghost, and
* Acts it. 1. xz. 7. 1 Cor. xvi. 2. Rev. i. 10. S. Hannah. . 15. Ignat. ad Mag-
net. {. 9, p. 23. Just Mart. Apol. 1, c. 89, p. 132. Ten. de Coron. Mil. cap. 3, p. 102,
A. Plin. 1. 10, Eplst. 97. Orig. in Exod. xv. Horn. 7, torn. i. p. 49, F. et alibi.
4 Athana*. Homil. de Sement. torn. ii. p. 60, A. Socrat. Hist. Eccl. 1. 6, c. 8, p. 312,
D. Concil. Laod. Can. 16, 51, t. i. col. 1500, B. et 1505, B. * Athanas. ut supra.
Concil. Laod. Can. 29, torn. i. col. 1501, C. Paulin. in Vita Amhr. ~ Innocent!!
primi Epist. ad Decent. Eugubin. c. 4. Concil. torn. ii. col. 1246, D. Concil. Klib.
Can. 26, torn. i. col. 973, D:
IN-TROD.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 187
the manifestation of the sacred Trinity. That the observation
of such days is requisite, is evident from the practice both of
Jews and Gentiles : nature taught the one, 8 and God the other,
that the celebration of solemn festivals was a part of the public
exercise of religion. Besides the feasts of the passover, of
weeks, and of tabernacles, which were all of divine appoint-
ment, the Jews celebrated some of their own institution, viz.
the feast ofpurim 9 and the dedication of the temple, 10 the lat-
ter of which even our blessed Saviour himself honoured with
his presence. 11
. 2. But these festivals being instituted in Christians not to
remembrance of some signal mercies granted in observe Jewish
particular to the Jews ; the Christians, who were feasts -
chiefly converted from the heathen world, were no more
obliged to observe them, than they were concerned in the
mercies thereon commemorated. And this is the reason that
when the Judaizing Christians would have imposed upon the
Galatians the observation of the Jewish festivals, as necessary
to salvation ; St. Paul looked upon it as a thing so criminal,
that he was afraid the labour he had bestowed upon them to
set them at liberty in the freedom of the Gospel had been in
vain: 12 not that he thought the observation of festivals was a
thing in itself unlawful, but because they thought themselves
still obliged by the law to observe those days and times,
which, being only shadows of things to come, were made
void by the coming of the substance.
. 3. As to the celebration of Christian festi-
vals, they thought themselves as much obliged vais^how eaSy
to observe them as the Jews were to observe observed in the
theirs. They had received greater benefits, and
therefore it would have been the highest degree of ingratitude
to have been less zealous in commemorating them. And ac-
cordingly we find that in the very infancy of Christianity some
certain days were yearly set apart, to commemorate the re-
surrection and ascension of Christ, the coming of the Holy
Ghost, &c., and to glorify God by an humble and grateful ac-
knowledgment of these mercies granted to them at those
times. Which laudable and religious custom so soon prevailed
over the universal Church, that in five hundred years after
our Saviour, we meet with them distinguished by the same
Plat, de Legibus, lib. 2, torn. ii. p. 653, D. ab Hen. Steph. Paris. 1578. 9 Esther
ix. 1 1 Maccab. ir. 59. John x. 22. u Gal. iv. 10, 11.
188 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS. AND [CHAP. v.
names we now call them by; such as Epiphany, Ascension-
day, IPhit- Sunday, &c., and appointed to be observed on those
days on which the Church of England now observes them. 13
III. Of Saints-days in general.
BUT besides the more solemn festivals, where-
observetPb^the on they were wont to celebrate the mysteries of
uans itive hrU l ^ e ' r redemption, tne primitive Christians had
their memoriae martyrum, or certain days set
apart yearly in commemoration of the great heroes of the
Christian religion, the blessed Apostles and martyrs, who had
attested the truth of these mysteries with their blood : at
whose graves they constantly met once a year, to celebrate
their virtues, and to bless God for their exemplary lives and
glorious deaths ; as well to the intent that others might be en-
couraged to the same patience and fortitude, as also that vir-
tue, even in this world, might not wholly lose its reward : a
practice doubtless very ancient, and probably founded upon
that exhortation to the Hebrews, to remember those nlio had
had the rule over them, and roho had spoken unto them the
word of God, and had sealed it with their blood. " In which
place the author of that Epistle is thought chiefly to hint at
the martyrdom of St. James, the first bishop of Jerusalem,
who, not long before, had laid down his life for the testimony
of Jesus. And we find that those who were eyewitnesses of
the sufferings of St. Ignatius, published the day of his mar-
tyrdom, that the Church of Antioch might meet together at
that time to celebrate the memory of such a valiant combatant
and martyr of Christ. 15 After this we read of the Church of
Smyrna's giving an account of St. Polycarp's martyrdom,
(which was A. D. 147, 16 ) and of the place where they had en-
tombed his bones, and withal professing that they would as-
semble in that place, and celebrate the birthday of his mar-
tyrdom with joy and gladness. 17 (Where we may observe,
by the way, that the days of the martyrs' deaths were called
their birthdays ; because they looked upon those as the dayg
of their nativity, whereon they were freed from the pains and
sorrows of a troublesome world, and born again to the joys
and happiness of an endless life.) These solemnities, as we
11 Conit. Apost. 1. 5, . IS. 1. 8. c. 33. " Heb. xiii. 7. Act. Mart. Ipnat.
J. 7, p. 52. ' Pearson. Diuertat. Chronologic, part. 2, a cap. 14 ad 20. " Ec-
clei. Stnjrrn. Epist. de Mart. 8. Polycarp. . 18, p. 73, et Euaeb. Histor. Eccl. 1. 4, c. IS,
p. 135, A. B.
INTROD.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 189
learn from Tertullian, 18 were yearly celebrated, and were
afterwards observed with so much care and strictness, that it
was thought profaneness to be absent from the Christian as-
semblies upon those occasions. 19
IV. Of the Festivals observed by the Church of England.
THE following ages were as forward as those
we have already spoken of, in celebrating the the'churchof
festivals of the martyrs and holy men of their England ob-
time. Insomuch that at the last the observation
of holy-days became both superstitious and troublesome ; a
number-of dead men's names, not over-eminent in their lives
either for sense or morals, crowding the calendar, and jostling
out the festivals of the first saints and martyrs. But at the
reformation of the Church, all these modern martyrs were
thrown aside, and no festivals retained in the calendar as days
of obligation, but such as were dedicated to the honour of
Christ, &c., or to the memory of those that were famous in
the Gospels. Such as were, in the first place, the twelve
Apostles, who being constant attendants on our Lord, and ad-
vanced by him to that high order, have each of them a day
assigned to their memory. St. John the Baptist and St. Ste-
phen have the same honour done to them ; the first because
he was Christ's forerunner ; the other upon account of his
being the first martyr. St. Paul and St. Barnabas* are com-
w De Coron. Mil. c. 3, p. 102, A. w Euseb. de Vit. Const. 1. 4, c. 23, p. 536, C.
Basil. Ep. 336, torn. iii. p. 228, E.
* St. Paul and St. Barnabas were neither of them inserted in the table
of holy-days prefixed to the calendar, till the Scotch Liturgy was compiled, |[' Barnabas
from whence they were taken into our own at the last review ; nor were why not for-
they reckoned up among the days that were appointed by the act, in the m 'l'y , i ? ' he
fifth and sixth year of king Edward VI., to be observed as holy-days ; JJ;^
though it is there expressly enacted, that no other day but what is therein
mentioned shall be kept, or commanded to be kept, holy. However, the names of each
of them were inserted in the calendar itself, and proper services were appointed for
them in all the Common Prayer Books that have been since the Reformation. And
in the first book of king Edward they are both red-letter holy-days : though in the
second book (in which the other holy-days are also printed in red letters) the Conversion
of St. Paul is put down in black, and St. Barnabas is omitted. But this last seems to
have been done through the carelessness of the printer, and not through design ; proper
second Lessons being added in the calendar against the day. The reason of their being
left out of the table of holy-days, was, because if they fell upon any week day, they
were not to be observed as days of obligation, or by ceasing from labour, nor to be bid
in the church. Their proper offices might be used, so they were not used solemnly, nor
by ringing to the same, after the manner used on high-holy-days. The reason why
these were not high-holy-days, I suppose, was, because the Conversion of St. Paul did
always, and St. Barnabas did often, fall in term-time ; during which time and the time
)f harvest, i. e. from the first of July to the twenty -ninth of September, it was ordained
n convocation by the authority of king Henry VIII. in 1536, that no days should be
)bserved as holy-days, except the feasts of the Apostles, of our blessed Lady, and St.
Jeorge, and such feasts as the king's judges did not use to sit in judgment in West-
minster-hall. 21 The days in the terms in which the judges did not use to sit were the
Chap. IIL " Seo Sparrow's Collect, p. 167, 108, and Hej-lin'i Miccllaneou3 Tracts, p. IT.
190 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
memorated upon account of their extraordinary call : St.
Mark and St. Luke, for the service they did Christianity by
their Gospels ; the Holy Innocents, because they are the first
that suffered upon our Saviour's account, as also for the
greater solemnity of Christmas, the birth of Christ being the
occasion of their death. The memory of all other pious per-
sons is celebrated together upon the festival of All-Saints : and
that the people may know what benefits Christians receive by
the ministry of angels, the feast of St. Michael and all Angels
is for that reason solemnly observed in the Church.
. 2. Designing to treat in this chapter of all
serves them! these days separately, in the order that they lie
in the Common Prayer Book, I shall say nothing
further of them in this place ; but only shall observe in
general, that they were constantly observed in the Church of
England, from the time of the Reformation till the late rebel-
lion, when it could not be expected that any thing that carried
an air of religion or antiquity could bear up against such an
irresistible inundation of impiety and confusion. But at the
Restoration our holy-days were again revived, together with
our ancient Liturgy, which appoints proper Collects, Epistles,
and Gospels for each of them ; and orders the curate to
declare unto the people, on the Sunday before, what holy-days
or fasting-days are in the week following to be observed.'"'
And the preface to the Act of Uniformity intimates it to be
schismatical to refuse to come to church on those days. And
by the first of Elizabeth, which is declared by the Uniformity-
Act to be in full force, all persons, having no lawful or rea-
sonable excuse to be absent, are obliged to resort to their parish-
church on holy-days, as well as Sundays, and there to abide or-
derly and soberly during the time of divine service, upon pain or
punishment by the censures of the Church, and also upon pain
of twelve pence for every offence, to be levied by distress.
. 3. In relation to the concurrence of two
holy- da y s together, we have no directions either
in the rubric or elsewhere, which must give
place, or which of the two services must be used. According
feast* of the Ascension, of St. John Baptist, of All-Saints, and of the Purification. By
the feasts of the Apostles I suppose the twelve only were meant . and therefore St.
Paul and St. Barnabas were excluded. But as they are inserted now in the table of
holy-days, which, with the whole Liturgy, is confirmed by the Act of Uniformity, they
are both of them days of equal obligation with the rest.
** Rubric after the Nicene Creed.
ISTROD.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 191
to what I can gather from the rubrics in the Roman Breviary
and Missal, (which are very intricate and difficult,) it is the
custom of that Church, when two holy-days come together,
that the office for one only be read, and that the office for the
other be transferred to the next day ; excepting that some
commemoration of the transferred holy-day be made upon the
first day, by reading the hymns, verses, &c., which belong to
the holy-day that is transferred. But our Liturgy has made
no such provision. For this reason some ministers, when a
holy-day happens upon a Sunday, take no notice of the holy-
day, (except that sometimes they are forced to use the second
Lesson for such holy-day, there being a gap in the column of
second Lessons in the calendar,) but use the service appointed
for the Sunday ; alleging that the holy-day, which is of human
institution, should give way to the Sunday, which is allowed to
be of divine. But this is an argument which I think not
satisfactory : for though the observation of Sunday be of di-
vine institution, yet the service we use on it is of human ap-
pointment. Nor is there any thing in the services appointed
to be used on the ordinary Sundays, that is more peculiar to,
or tends to the greater solemnity of the Sunday, than any of
the services appointed for the holy-days. What slight there-
fore do we shew to our Lord's institution, if when we meet on
the day that he has set apart for the worship of himself, we
particularly praise him for the eminent virtues that shined
forth in some saint, whose memory that day happens to bring
to our mind ? Such praises are so agreeable to the duty of the
day, that I cannot but esteem the general practice to be pre-
ferable, which is, to make the lesser holy-day give way to the
greater ; as an ordinary Sunday, for instance, to a saint's day ;
a saint's day to one of our Lord's festivals ; and a lesser fes-
tival of our Lord to a greater : except that some, if the first
Lesson for the holy-day be out of the Apocrypha, will join
the first Lesson of the Sunday to the holy-day service : as
observing that the Church, by always appointing canonical
Scripture upon Sundays, seems to countenance their use of a.
canonical Lesson even upon a holy-day, that has a proper one
appointed out of the Apocrypha, if that holy-day shall happen
upon a Sunday. But what if the Annunciation should happen
in Passion-week; or either that or St. Mark upon Easter-
Monday or Tuesday ? or what if St. Barnabas should fall upon
Whit-Monday or Tuesday? or what if St. Andrew and Advent-
Sunday both come together ? In any of these concurrences I
192 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
do not doubt but the service would be differently performed
in different Churches. And therefore I take this to be a case
in which the bishops ought to be consulted, they having a
power vested in them to appease all diversity, (if any arise,)
and to resolve all doubt concerning the manner how to under-
stand, do, and execute the things contained in the Book of
Common Prayer.* 3
V. Of the Vigils or Eve.
IN the primitive times it was the custom to
^called 7 * P a8S g reat P art f tne night that preceded certain
holy-days in religious exercises and devotion ;
and this even in those places which were set apart for the
public worship of God. And these exercises, from their be-
ing performed in the night-time, came to be called vigiUce,
vigils or watchings.
. 2. As to the original of this practice, some
The th1m nal f are inclined to found it upon the several texts of
Scripture literally understood, where watching is
enjoined as well as prayer ; particularly upon the conclusion
our Saviour draws from the parable of the ten virgins : Watch
therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour mherem
the Son of man cometh. u But others, with greater probabi-
lity, have imputed the rise of these night-watches to the ne-
cessity which Christians were under of meeting in the night,
and before day, for the exercise of their public devotions, by
reason of the malice and persecution of their enemies, who
endeavoured the destruction of all that appeared to be Chris-
tians. 25 And when this first occasion ceased, by the Christians
having liberty given them to perform their devotions in a more
public manner, they still continued these night-watches before
certain festivals, in order to prepare their minds for a due
observation of the ensuing solemnity. 28 But afterwards, when
these night-meetings came to be so far abused, that no care
could prevent several disorders and irregularities, the Church
thought fit to abolish them : so that the nightly watchings
were laid aside, and the fasts only retained, but still keeping
the former name of vigils. 27
** See the preface concerning the service of the Church. f * Matt. xxv. 13.
* See John xx. 19. Acts xii. 12, and xx. 7. Tertull. de Coron. c. S. Plin. Lib. 10.
Ep. 97. Tert. ad Uxor. lib. 2. Euseb. de Vit. Const, lib. 4. Hieron. ad Ripar.
adv. Vipilantium. " It seems the vigil upon All-hallows day at night was kept by
watching, and ringing of bells all night long, till the year 1545, when king Henry VIII.
wrote to Cranmer to abolUh it. Collier's History, rol. li. p. 205.
iS-rnoD.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 193
. 3. The festivals that have these vigils as-
signed to them by the Church of England 29 are,
the Nativity of our Lord, the Purification of the
blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin,
Easter-day, Ascension-day, Pentecost, St. Matthias, St. John
Baptist, St. Peter, St. James, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew,
St. Simon and St. Jude, St. Andrew, St. Thomas, and All-
Saints. The reason why the other holy-days have
no vigils before them, is, because they generally Whi * d 1 ^ y not '
happen either between Christmas and the Purifi-
cation or between Easter and Whitsuntide ; which were always
esteemed such seasons of joy, that the Church did not think
fit to intermingle them with any days of fasting and humilia-
tion. They that fall between Christmas and the Purification,
are the feasts of St. Stephen, St. John the Evangelist, the
Holy Innocents, the Circumcision, and the Conversion of St.
Paul. 29 The others that may happen between Easter and
Whitsuntide, are St. Mark, St. Philip and St. James, and St.
Barnabas. It is true, indeed, the festival of our Lord's as-
cension, which is always ten days before Whit-Sunday, has a
vigil before it : but it may be worth inquiring, whether there
was any vigil prefixed to it before the institution of the roga-
tion-fasts, which were appointed upon the three days that
precede this festival. There are two holy-days not yet named,
that have no vigils, though they do not happen in either of the
above-mentioned seasons : the one is in September, viz. the
feast of St. Michael and All Angels; the other in October,
viz. the festival of St. Luke. Upon the first of these, one
reason for the institution of vigils ceaseth, which was to con-
form us to the example of the saints we commemorate, and to
remind us that they passed through sufferings and mortifica-
tions before they entered into the joy of their Master ; whereas
those ministering spirits, for whose protection and assistance we
return God thanks on that day, were at first created in full pos-
session of bliss. The reason why the latter, viz. St. Luke, has
no vigil, is because the eve of that saint was formerly itself a
celebrated holy-day in the Church of England, viz. the feast
of St. Etheldred: but that reason being now removed, I sup-
's See the table of the vigils, &c., before the calendar, which was first inserted at the
ast review. Though the days before these several festivals were marked for fasts hi
the calendar in all the Common Prayer Books, except king Edward's. ** The day
before the Conversion of St. Paul is marked for a fast in tlie Scotch Liturgy.
o
194 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHA*. v.
pose every one is left to his own liberty, as to his private de-
votions, whether he will observe the eve as a vigil or not.
. 3. All Sundays in the year being appointed
The vigil of a by the Church to be observed as festivals, no
^ vigil is allowed to be kept upon any of those
days : there being a particular rubric to order,
that if any of the feast-days that have a vigil
fall upon a Monday, then the vigil or fast-day shall be
kept upon the Saturday, not. upon the Sunday next before it. 30
But from hence a query ariseth, viz. on which evening service
the collect for the festival is to be used : the rubric indeed
relating to this matter seems to be worded very plain, viz.
Whether the That the collect appointed for every Sunday, or
collect of a Mon- for any holy-day that hath a vigil or eve, shall
be^u^the be said at the evening service next before ;*
Saturday or Sun- but then this rubric seems to suppose that the
day before is the vigil or eve ; and makes no
provision in case the festival falls upon the Monday, when we
are directed by the rubric above cited to keep the vigil or fast
upon the Saturday. Here then we are left at an uncertainty,
nor can we get any light by comparing our present Liturgy
with any former Common Prayer Book, because both these
rubrics, together with the tables of vigils or eves, were first
added at the last review. According to Mr. Johnson, indeed,
who imagines that the collect for the festival is appointed to
be used upon the evening before, because then the holy-day
properly begins, we ought to read the collect upon the Sunday
evening, though the vigil be kept upon the Saturday. For he
observes,** that " the Church of England has divided her
nights and days according to the scriptural, not the civil ac-
count : and that though our civil day begins from midnight,
yet our ecclesiastical day begins at six in the evening. And
therefore the collect for the Sunday is to be read on what in
our civil account is called Saturday evening, and the collect
of every greater festival at evening prayer next before. The
proper time for vespers or even-song is six of the clock, and
from that time the religious day begins : therefore where even-
ing prayer is ready at its proper season, the collect for the
Purification may well be used as the rubric directs, on what ,
they call the foregoing evening, notwithstanding those words,
10 See the ruhric at the bottom of the table of viprils. ' See the rubric before the
Collect for the first Sunday in Advent. * Clergyman's Vade Mecum, c. 22, page 210.
IHTROD.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 195
Thy only Son mas THIS DAY presented in the temple" But
against this supposition lie two objections : the one is, that
there are very few churches which begin prayers after six in
the evening, which Mr. Johnson affirms to be the proper time
for vespers or even-song : though if they did, the same diffi-
culty would occur what collect we must use at evening prayer
upon the festival itself, for then, according to Mr. Johnson,
another day begins. But further, if the day begins at six of
the clock on the evening before, then the collect of every
festival ought to be used on the foregoing evening ; whereas
the rubric only orders, that the collects for Sundays, and such
holy-days ,as have vigils and eves, be said at the preceding
evening service, and consequently supposes that the collects
of such festivals as have no vigils are only to be used upon the
festivals themselves.* From whence too we may observe by
the way, it is a mistake in those who use the collects of all
* Mr. Johnson has been pleased to reply to this, that " it is so certain that six is the
hour of even-song, that no man will dispute it who is not a perfect stranger to things
of this nature. "s 3 That it was so formerly, whilst the old canonical hours of prayer
were strictly observed, I readily allow. But that it is so still, I was not aware : for I
own myself to be so much a stranger to things of this nature, as to have been hitherto
of the opinion (though I shall be glad to alter it, when I shall be better informed) that,
upon reducing the seven offices into two,** viz. Matins and Even-Song, or Morning and
Evening Prayer, as we now generally call them, there were no hours fixed for the say-
ing of either. The same learned gentleman says further in the same place, that " they
who terminate the feasts within certain minutes, and because six is the hour of ves-
pers will allow no latitude, have never considered that in the Scripture language (which
is the best guide in this matter) what is expressed by the evening, and going down of
the sun, in one text, (Deut. xvi. 6,) is called the time between the two evenings in an-
other (Exod. xii. 6). And the time of the evening sacrifice is expressed by this last
phrase (Numb, xxviii. 4). And it is notorious that this was any time between the
ninth and twelfth according to them, the third and sixth with us." These texts of
Scripture I have seen before ; and have since considered how far they help Mr. John-
son's argument. But I cannot see yet that they prove any more than that they who
began the day punctually at six one evening, ended it as punctually at six the next.
But that the Church of England divides her nights and days according to the scrip-
tural, and not the civil account, is his assertion, and not mine. To him it is clear, but
not to me, that feasts are to be kept from even-song to even-song inclusively. 35 That
the festival day is not past till even-song is ended, I willingly grant : but that the fes-
tival begins at even-song before, wants, I think, a better proof. That the collect for a
holy-day that hath a vigil or eve, is to be said at the evening service next before, the
rubric appoints : but that the evening before is therefore part of the festival, I know
not how to reconcile with another rubric that calls the eve or vigil a fast. 36 I rather
take it, that the evenings before such festivals as have vigils are designed by the
Church to be preparations to the festivals, rather than parts of them ; and therefore I
know not what Mr. Johnson means when he tells us, " that holy-days which begin not
till morning prayer are not perfect feasts, but were deemed to be of inferior rank by
them that had the ordering of these matters." When he gives us his authority for
what he asserts, I shall readily submit : but till then I shall be of the opinion, that
gome festivals which have not vigils are as perfect feasts as some others which have :
and that their not having vigils assigned them, was not because they are of inferior
rank, but for the other reasons that I have given above.
e Mr. Jnhmon'i Addenda to his ClCTRjrnan'i Vade Mecum, at the end of Mi two caw*, pages 10.
107. !$ Mr. JohMon'i Ecclesiastical La i, A. D. 740, 28, and 967, 19. Addenda ut upra. bee
the rubric at the cad of the table of riuiln.
o 2
196 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CIIAP. v.
holy-days whatsoever upon the evening before. I know in-
deed it may be urged against this last observation, that the
Collect of the Nativity is directed by another rubric to be
said continually from Citristmas-day unto New-Years-
Eve ; and what makes this objection the stronger, is, that be-
fore the last review of the Liturgy, the Christmas collect was
to be said until New-Year's-Day. The changing Day there-
fore for Eve looks something remarkable ; and as if they pur-
posely designed that the collect of the Circumcision should
be used on the evening before, and that the collect of the
Nativity should be then left off : the Church always speaking
exclusive of the time or place it mentions in any such direc-
tions. "What answer to make to this, I own I am at a loss.
The best I can think of is, that New-Year's-Eve being the
common name given to the last day of the year, the person
that altered the rubric might imagine, that the feast of the
circumcision had really an eve belonging to it. But whatever
might be the occasion of the alteration, I think it can be
urged no otherwise against what I have said, than as a single
exception from a general rule.
. 4. Now I am speaking of this, I shall ob-
Sii e e rtrnotto be serve one thing more ; and that is, that whenever
used on holy- the collect of a Sunday or holy-day is read at the
eves! r evening service before, the weekly collect that
had been in course must be omitted and give
place. And the same rule, as I take it, should be observed
upon the holy-day itself, upon which no other collect ought
to be used, but the proper one for the day. For the rubric,
at the end of the order horn the rest of the service is appoint,
ed to be read, directs, that the collect, Sfc. for the Sunday
shall serve all ttie meek after, where it is not otherwise or-
dered; which supposes, that in some places it is otherwise
ordered, which must be (as it was worded in all the old Com-
mon Prayer Books) when there falls some feast that hath its
proper, i. e. when any day falls that hath a proper or peculiar
collect, &c. to itself: upon which occasions the rubric plainly
supposes, that the collect for the Sunday shall be left out and
omitted : the Church never designing to use two collects at
once, except within the octaves of Christmas, and during Ad-
vent and Lent ; when, for the greater solemnity of those
solemn seasons, she particularly orders the collects of the prin-
cipal days to be used continually after the ordinary collects.
INTKOD.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 197
VI. Of Days of Fasting or Abstinence in general.
THAT Fasting or Abstinence from our usual Fastlngj how an _
sustenance is a proper means to express sorrow cient and uni-
and grief, and a fit method to dispose our minds versal a duty '
towards the consideration of any thing that is serious, nature
seems to suggest : and therefore all nations, from ancient
times, have used fasting as a part of repentance, and as a
means to avert the anger of God. This is plain in the case of
the Ninevites, 37 whose notion of fasting, to appease the wrath
of God, seems to have been common to them with the rest of
mankind. In the Old Testament, besides the examples of
private fasting by David, 38 and Daniel, 39 and others ; we have
instances of public fasts observed by the whole nation of the
Jews at once upon solemn occasions. 40 It is true, indeed, in
the New Testament we find no positive precept, that expressly
requires and commands us to fast : but our Saviour mentions
fasting with almsgiving and prayer, which are unquestionable
duties ; and the directions he gave concerning the performance
of it sufficiently suppose its necessity. And he himself was
pleased, before he entered upon his ministry, to give us an
extraordinary example in his own person, by fasting forty days
and forty nights. 41 He excused indeed his disciples from fast-
ing, so long as he, the Bridegroom, was with them ; because
that being a time of joy and gladness, it would be an improper
season for tokens of sorrow : but then he intimates at the same
time, that though it was not fit for them then, it would yet be
their duty hereafter : for the days, says he, will come, when
the Bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they shall
fast.'" 1 And accordingly we find, that after his ascension, the
duty of fasting was not only recommended, 43 but practised by
the Apostles, as any one may see by the texts of Scripture
referred to in the margin. 44 After the Apostles, we find the
primitive Christians very constant and regular in the observa-
tion both of their annual and weekly fasts. Their weekly
fasts were kept on Wednesdays and Fridays, because on the
one our Lord was betrayed, on the other crucified. The chief
of their annual fasts was that of Lent, which they observed
by way of preparation for their feast of Easter.
" Jonah iii. 5. 38 p sa l m Ixix. 10. Daniel ix. 3. See Lev. xxiii. 26, &c.
2 Chron. xx. S. Ezra viii. 21. Jer. xxxvi. 9. Zech. viii. 19. Joel i. 14. Matt. iv. 2.
Matt. ix. 15. 1 Cor. vii. 5. * Acts xiii. 2, and xiv. 23. 1 Cor. ix. 27. 2 Cor.
vf. 5, and xi. 27.
198 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. T.
8. 2. Their manner of observing these fasts
Days of fasting, " . .....
how observed by was very strict ; it being their general custom to
!-h e riS ive abstain from all food, till the public devotion of
i ill JallfUla. i"ii i n
the Church was over : which was about three of
the clock in the afternoon, though in the time of Lent they
were not to eat till six in the evening ; and even then they
forbore both flesh and wine, the greater part of them feeding
only upon herbs or pulse, with a little bread. Some used the
dry diet, as nuts and almonds, and such like fruit, whilst
others fed only upon bread and water.
Fasting and ab- . 3 " In , th . e Church of Rome fasting and ab-
stinence.howdis- stmence admit of a distinction, and different daya
chwch h oniome! are appointed for each of them. On their days
of fasting, they are allowed but one meal in four
and twenty hours : but on days of abstinence, provided they
abstain from flesh, and make but a moderate meal, they are
What days ap- indulged in a collation at night. The times by
pointed for the one them set apart for the first are, all Lent except
her - Sundays, the ember-days, the vigils of the more
solemn feasts, and all Fridays, except those that fall within
the twelve days of Christmas, and between Easter and the
Ascension. Their days of abstinence are, all the Sundays in
Lent, St. Mark's day, if it does not fall into Easter-week, the
three Rogation-days, all Saturdays throughout the year, with
the Fridays before excepted, unless either happen to be Christ-
st Mark wh mas-day. The reason why they observe St. Mark
observed aTa day as a day of abstinence is, as we learn from their
the^o'mMUu^ own books, in imitation of St. Mark's disciples,
the first Christians of Alexandria, who, under this
saint's conduct, were eminent for their great prayer, abstinence,
and sobriety. They further tell us, that St. Gregory the Great,
the Apostle of England, first set apart this day for abstinence
and public prayer, as an acknowledgment of the divine mercy
in putting a stop to a mortality in his time at Rome.* 4
..... .. 8. 4. I do not find that the Church of England
No distinction ,._ , _
made in the makes any difference between days of fasting and
UndlltheVbe?" da y 8 of abstinence : it is true, in the title of the
tween days of table of vigils, &c. she mentions fasts AND daya
o"ab\*unTnce, a or f oibstinence separately ; but when she comes
between any dif- to enumerate the particulars, she calls them all
ftri-nt kinds of , ,. - .. ... -.1 , j- .-
food. days of fasting OR abstinence, without distm-
45 See their Practical Catechism upon the Sundays, Feasts, and Fast*, pages 186, 187.
INTUOD.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 199
guishing between the one and the other. Nor does she
any where point out to us what food is proper for such
times or seasons, or seem to place any part of religion in ab-
staining from any particular kinds of meat. It is true, by
a statute still in force, 46 flesh is prohibited on fast-days : but
this is declared to be for a political reason, viz. for the increase
of cattle, and for the encouragement of fishery and navigation.
Not but that the statute allows that abstinence is serviceable
to virtue, and helps to subdue the body to the mind : but the
distinction of clean and unclean meats determined, it says, with
the Mosaic law ; and therefore it sets forth, that days and
meats are in themselves all of the same nature and quality as
to moral consideration, one not having any inherent holiness
above the other. And for this reason it is that our Church,
as I have said, no where makes any difference in the kinds of
meat : but, as far as she determines, she seems to recommend
an entire abstinence from all manner of food till the time
of fasting be over ; declaring in her Homilies, 47 that fasting
(by the decree of the six hundred and thirty Fathers, assembled
at the Council of Chalcedon, which was one of the four first
general Councils, who grounded their determination upon ilie
sacred Scriptures, and long -continued usage or practice both of
the prophets and other, godly persons before the coming of
Christ; and also of the apostles and other devout men in the
Neio Testament) is a withholding of meat, drink, and all na-
tural food from the body, for the determined time of fasting.
. 5. The times she sets apart as proper for this
duty are such as she finds have been observed ^fe d d ^^.
with fasting and abstinence by the earliest ages
of the Church ; which, besides the vigils above mentioned,
are the forty days of Lent, the ember-days at the four seasons,
the three rogation-days, and all Fridays in the year, except
Christmas-day.
. 6. Every one of these seasons (except the
Friday-fast only) will come in turn to be ^ed'wa 3 ^
spoken to hereafter ; and therefore I shall waive
saying any thing further to them here ; and shall only observe
of Friday in particular, that it was always observed by the
primitive Christians as a day of fasting, who thought it very
proper to humble themselves on the same day weekly, on
48 In the second and third of king Edward VI. c. 19. 47 See the first part of the
sermon of Fasting.
200 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHA*. T.
which the blessed Jesus humbled himself once, even to tlie
death of the cross, for us miserable sinners.
VII. Of the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels in general.
HOW the Church ^ LL tne ^ a J' 8 a ^ ove mentioned, as well fasts
of England ob- as festivals, the Church of England still requires
serve* these days. ug ^ Q O b 8e rve, in such manner as may answer the
end for which they were appointed. To this end she always
enlarges her ordinary devotions, adding particular Lessons on
most of them, proper Psalms on some, and the Communion
Office on all. The proper Lessons and Psalms I shall take
notice of, when I come to treat of the particular days on which
they are appointed : but because there are a Collect, Epistle,
and Gospel appointed for every Sunday and holy-day through-
out the year ; it is requisite I should first speak of them in
general, and shew their antiquity as well as their suitableness
to the days they belong to. And first of their antiquity.
The antiquity, , ' 2> Tfaat m St . f OUI> coll f cts are verv an '
src. of the col- cient, appears by their conformity to the Epistles
and Gospels, which are thought to have been se-
lected by St. Jerome, and put into the Lectionary by him :
for which reason many believe that the collects also were first
framed by him. It is certain that Gelasius, who was bishop
of Rome A. D. 492, ranged the collects, which were then
used, into order, and added some new ones of his own; 48
which office was again corrected by pope Gregory the Great
in the year 600, whose Sacramentary contains most of the
collects we now use. But our reformers observing that some
of these collects were afterwards corrupted by superstitious
alterations and additions, and that others were quite left out
of the Roman Missals, and entire new ones, relating to their
present innovations, added in their room ; they therefore ex-
amined every collect strictly, and where they found any of
them corrupted, there they corrected them ; where any
new ones had been inserted, they restored the old ones ;
and lastly, at the Restoration, every collect was again re-
viewed, when whatsoever was deficient was supplied, and all
that was but improperly expressed, rectified. The several
alterations both then and at the Reformation shall be noted
hereafter in their proper places : in the mean while I shall pro-
ceed to give the like general account of the Epistles and Gospels.
See Dr. Comber's History of Liturgies, part ii. J. 14, p. 68.
INTEOD.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 201
. 3. I have already hinted, that they are fhe antiquity of
thought to have been at first selected by St. Je- the Epistles and
rome, and put into the Lectionary by him. It is Gos P els -
certain that they were very anciently appropriated to the days
whereon we now read them ; since they are not only of ge-
neral use throughout the whole Western Church, but are also
commented upon in the homilies of several ancient Fathers,
which are said to have been preached upon those very days,
to which these portions of Scripture are now affixed. So that
they have most of them belonged to the same Sundays and
holy-days we now use them on, for above twelve hundred
years ; as I might easily shew also from several authorities. 49
. 4. In all the old Common Prayer Books,
except the Scotch one, the Epistles and Gospels ^feSS?^
were taken out of the Great Bible, neither of the
two last translations being extant when the Common Prayer
was first compiled. But in regard of the many defects which
were observed in that version, and upon the petition of the
presbyterian commissioners at the Savoy conference, the com-
missioners on the Church side concluded that all the Epistles
and Gospels should be used, according to the last translation. 80
. 5. The other variations that have been made
in them, at and since the Reformation, shall be ^J^Stod.** 5
taken notice of as I go along : I shall only observe
further in this place, in relation to them in general, in what
admirable order and method they are appointed, and what
special relation they bear to the several days whereon they
are read.
The whole year is distinguished into two parts : the design
of the first being to commemorate Christ's living amongst us ;
the other to instruct us to live after his example. The former
takes in the whole time from Advent to Trinity -Sunday ; for
the latter are all the Sundays from Trinity to Advent. The
first part being conversant about the life of our Saviour, and
the mysteries of his divine dispensation : therefore beginning
at Advent, we first celebrate his incarnation in general, and
after that in their order the several particulars of it : such as
were his nativity, circumcision, and manifestation to the Gen-
tiles ; his doctrine and miracles, his baptism, fasting, and
temptation ; his agony and bloody srveat ; his cross and pas-
49 Vid. Liturg. S. Jacob. S. Clem. S. Basil, Walefrid. -Strab. de Reb. Eccl. c. 22.
w Account of all the Proceedings of the Commissioners, 1661, p. 15, or in Baxter's
Narrative, p. 318, and the Papers that passed between the Commissioners, p. 129.
202 OP THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. T.
sion ; his precious death and burial ; his glorious resurrection
and ascension ; and his sending the Holy Ghost to comfort us.
During all this time the chief end and design of the Epistles
and Gospels is to make us remember with thankful hearts
what unspeakable benefits we receive from the Father, first by
his Son, and then by his Holy Spirit ; for which we very aptly
end this part of the year with giving praise and glory to the
whole blessed Trinity.
The second part of the year, (which comprehends all the
whole time from Trinity-Sunday to Advent,} I observed, is
to instruct us to lead our lives after our Lord's example. For
having in the first part of the year learned the mysteries of our
religion, we are in the second to practise what is agreeable to
the same. For it concerns us, not only to know that we have
no other foundation of our religion, than Christ Jesus our
Lord ; but further also to build upon this foundation such a
life as he requires of us. And therefore as the first part ends
with Pentecost, whereon we commemorate a new law given us
in our hearts ; so the second is to begin with the practice of
that law : for which reason such Epistles and Gospels are ap-
pointed, as may most easily and plainly instruct and lead us
in the true paths of Christianity ; that so those who are rege-
nerated by Christ, and initiated in his faith, may know what
virtues to follow, and what vices to eschew.
The Collect, E- ^' This I take to be a proper place to speak
pistie, and bo- to the rubric which directs, that the Collect,
S, f0 to le "for" Epistle, and Gospel appointed for the Sunday
the' week after- shall serve all the meek after, rohere it is not in
this book otherwise ordered. 51 The principal
occasion of which provision, I suppose, was a rubric at the
end of the Communion Office, in the first book of king Edward
VI., which ordered, that upon Wednesdays and Fridays,
though there were none to communicate with the priest, yet
(after the Litany ended) the priest should put upon him a plain
alb, or surplice, with a cope, and say all things at the altar
(appointed to be said at the celebration of the Lord's Supper)
until after the offertory. And that the same order should be
used all other days, whensoever the people accustomably assem-
bled to pray in the church, and none disposed to communicate
nith him. But though this custom be now laid aside, yet the
41 See the lait rubric in the Order how the rest of the holy Scripture if appointed to be
INTHOD.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 203
direction above mentioned is still of use to us, if either at a
marriage, or at the churching of a woman, (at both which
times a communion is prescribed by the rubric as convenient,)
or upon any other such like occasion, the sacrament be admin-
istered : at which times we are ordered by the rubric I am
speaking of, to use the same Collect, Epistle, and Gospel as
were used the Sunday before, where it is not otherwise ordered
in this book. Before the last review it was said, Except Bome ho _
except there fall some feast that hath its proper, iy-day happens in
i. e. except there fall some holy-day in the week theweek -
which has a Collect, Epistle, and Gospel of its own; or, as it
is worded in the Scotch Liturgy, except there fall some feast
that hath its proper Collect, Epistle, and Gospel ; as it is on
Ash- Wednesday, and on every day in the holy meek next
before the Pasch or Easter , in which case the Sunday Col-
lect, Epistle, and Gospel are to give place to the proper Col-
lect, Epistle, and Gospel for that day. And this to be sure is
part of what is intended by the rubric, as it stands now.
Though the design I suppose of altering the last words into,
where it is not in this book otherwise ordered,
was for a direction also at^uch times as a new Eaf^vLS
i . | f~ -m 1 season ucgins.
season begins between one ounday and another,
as it happens upon Ash-Wednesday and Ascension-day. In
which case the services of those days being placed between
the services for the Sundays immediately before and after ; I
take that to be an order that the Collect, &c. for the fore-
going Sunday shall be then left off, and the Collect, &c. for
the holy-day shall succeed as the service for the remaining
part of the week. Which is exactly agreeable to an express
rubric after the Gospel for Ash-Wednesday in the Scotch
Liturgy, which enjoins that from Ash-Wednesday to the first
Sunday in Lent shall be used the same Collect, Epistle, and
Gospel, which were used on Ash- Wednesday.
. 7. In the first Common Prayer Book of king
Edward VI. there were two Collects, Epistles, nfons7ormeriy at
and Gospels appointed for Christmas-day and Christmas and
Easter-day, one to be used at the first com-
munion, the other at the second .- for the churches not afford-
ing room enough upon those high festivals for all to com-
municate at once that were willing to come ; therefore the
sacrament was ordered to be repeated, and a different service
appointed for each solemnity. As to a double ,.
,. -' ^ j Double commn-
commumon, the practice is ancient : ior we find nions on the
201 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
same day an an- that pope Leo, writing to Dioscorus, bishop of
Alexandria, advised, that where the churches
were too small to admit all that were desirous to communicate
at Once, the priests should administer two or three commu-
nions in one day, that so they who could not get room to offer
themselves the first time, might have an opportunity of doing
it afterwards. Convinced by this authority, Bucer afterwards
retracted an exception he had made against having two com-
munions in one day ; 5 * though in the second review of the
Liturgy under king Edward, one of these services was laid
aside, not, I suppose, with intent to forbid a repetition of the
sacrament, if the minister should see occasion to administer it
twice, but only that, as the congregation at each time is sup-
posed to be different, therefore the same service should be
used for both.
VIII. Of Introits in general.
I SHOULD now proceed to give the reasons of the choice of
the several Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, and to shew their
suitableness to the days they belong to. But because to do
this it is necessary I should shew what particular blessings the
Church commemorates at those several times on which they
are prescribed ; I shall descend to particulars, and first give a
short account of the several Sundays and holy-days, as they
stand in order, and then shew how these portions of Scripture
are to be applied to the day.
introits, what But ^ rst ^ 8 ^ a ^ ta ^ e ^' s opportunity to ob-
they were, and serve, that in the first Common Prayer Book of
,w ancient. kmg E dward yj., before every Collect, Epistle,
and Gospel, there is a Psalm printed, which contains some-
thing prophetical of the evangelical history used upon each
Sunday and holy-day, or in some way or other proper to the
day ; which, from its being sung or said while the priest made
his entrance within the rails of the altar, was called Introitus
or Introit.^ But in the second edition of king Edward's book
Script. Anglican, p. 465, et 495.
M The Introits for every Sunday and holy -day throughout the year.
1 Sunday in Advent . . . J'talm 1
2 120
Sunday after Christmas-day .
Circumcision . .
J'talm 121
122
3 4
Epiphany '.
06
4 6
13
Christmas-day, At the first commu-
14
nion 98
3 .
4
**\
20
St. John the Evangelist ... 11
; ...
Scptuageslma Sunday .
23
24
SECT. I.]
THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS.
205
it was laid aside ; though the reason they had for doing so is
not easily assigned. For it is very certain that the use of In-
troits to begin the Communion Office was not only unexcep-
tionable, but of great antiquity in the Church : Durand prov-
ing that they were taken into divine service before the time
of St. Jerome. 54 And it is plain that they would still have
been very useful, since the want of them is forced to be sup-
plied by the singing of anthems in cathedrals, and part of a
psalm in metre in parish churches. And therefore I cannot
but think, it would have been much more decent for us to
have been guided by the Church what psalms to have used in
that intermediate time, than to stand to the direction of every
illiterate parish clerk, who too often has neither judgment to
choose a psalm proper to the occasion, nor skill to sing it so
as to assist devotion.
SECT. I. Of the Sundays in Advent.
FOR the greater solemnity of the three princi- ,
i i_ i j /", 7 -n 7 i Advent Sundays.
pal holy-days, Christmas-day, Easter-day, and
Quinquagesima Sunday .
Ash-Vednesday
1 Sunday in Lent .
2
3
4
5
Sunday next before Easter
Psalm 26
6
32
. 130
43
. 46
54
. 61
22
11 Sunday after Trinity
12 ...
Psalm 119
part 1 1
. 12
13
14
15
13
. 14
15
16
17
. 16
17
18
. 18
Easter-even . . .
Easter-day. At the first comi)
. 88
nunion 16
Mnrnu-
3
. 62
113
. 112
70
19 ...
19
20
21 ' .
. 20
21
nion .
Monday in Easter-week
Tuesday in Easter-week
1 Sunday after Easter
2
22
23
. 22
124
24
. . 125
25
. . 127
St. Andrew
St. Thomas .
Conversion of St. Paul
Purification of the blessec
Mary . . i .
St. Matthias . . _
. . 129
128
. 138
Virgin
. 134
140
. 131
8
. 75
4
5
Ascension-day
Sunday after Ascension-day
WTiit-Sunday .
Monday in Whitsun-week
Tuesday in Whitsun-week .
Trinity Sunday .
1 Sunday after Trinity
2
83
. 84
47
. 93
33
. 100
101
. 67
part 1 119
2
St. Mark.
St. Philip and St. James .
St. Barnabas .
St. John the Baptist .
St Peter . . .
141
. 133
142
. 143
144
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
3
. 4
5
. 6
7
. 8
9
St. Mary Magdalene .
. . 146
148
St. Bartholomew
St. Matthew .
St. Michael and All Angels
St. Luke the Evangelist
St. Simon and St. Jude
All Saints
. 115
117
. 113
137
. 150
119
10 .. .
10
it
De Rit. Eccl. 1. 7, c. 1 1 .
206 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. r.
Wliit- Sunday, the Church hath appointed certain days to attend
them : some to go before, and others to come after them.
Why so called Before Christmas are appointed four Advent
Sundays, so called, because the design of them
is to prepare us for a religious commemoration of the Advent,
or coming of Christ in the flesh. The Roman
ae gtpftrrf ritualigts would have the celebration of this holy
season to be apostolical, and that it was instituted
by St. Peter. 55 But the precise time of its institution is not so
easily to be determined : though it certainly had its beginning
before the year 450, because Maximus Taurinensis, who lived
Advent sermons about that time, writ a homily upon it. And it
formerly preach- is to be observed, that for the more strict and
religious observation of this season, courses of
sermons were formerly preached in several cathedrals on Wed-
nesdays and Fridays, as it is now the usual practice in Lent. 86
And we find by the Salisbury Missal, that before the Reform-
ation there was a Special Epistle and Gospel relating to
Christ's Advent, appointed for those days during all that time.
8. 2. The Collects for the first and second Sun-
The Collects. , o . , , . 1K/in , .
days in Advent were made new in 1549, being
first inserted in the first book of king Edward VI. That for
the third Sunday was added at the Restoration in the room of
a very short one not so suitable to the time.* The Collect
for the fourth Sunday is the same with what we meet with in
the most ancient offices, except that in some of them it is ap-
pointed for the first Sunday.f
The Epistles and Gospels appointed on these
El Go t speis. nd days are all very ancient and very proper to the
time : they assure us of the truth of Christ's first
coming; 57 and, as a proper means to bring our lives to a con-
formity with the end and design of it, they recommend to us
the considerations of his second coming, when he will execute
vengeance on all those that obey not his Gospel. 58
my the church . $ 3 ' II is worth observing in this place, that
begins her year it is the peculiar computation of the Church, to
The old Collect was this : " Lord, we beseech thee, give ear to our prayers, and by
thy gracious visitation lighten the darkness of our hearts, by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Aincn." t The word* " through the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord " were first
added in the Scotch Liturgy.
B Durand. Rational. 1. 6, c. 2, numb. 2, fol. 253. See Dr. Greenvil's Sermon,
preached in the cathedral of Durham, upon the revival of the ancient and laudable prac-
tice of that and some other cathedrals, in having sermons on Wednesdays and Fridays
in Advent and Lent. Quarto, 1688. " Epistle and Gospel for Sunday 1. Epistle
for Sunday 2. Gospel for Sunday 3. Epistle and Gospel for Sunday 4. M Gospel
for Sunday 2 and 3.
SECT, it.] THEIE COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 207
begin her year, and to renew the annual course of at Advent -
her service, at this time of Advent, therein differing from all
other accounts of time whatsoever. The reason of which is,
because she does not number her days, or measure her sea-
sons, so much by the motion of the sun, as by the course of
our Saviour : beginning and counting on her year with him,
who being the true Sun of Righteousness, began now to rise
upon the world, and, as the day-star on high, to enlighten
them that sat in spiritual darkness.
SECT. II. Of the Ember- Weeks.
THE first season of the ember-days falling after
the third Sunday in Advent, I shall take this op- : ' he gg" 1
portunity to speak a word or two of them ; which
are certain days set apart for the consecrating to God the four
seasons of the year, and for the imploring his blessing by fast-
ing and prayer, upon the ordinations performed in the Church
at those times : in conformity to the practice of the Apostles,
who, when they separated persons for the work of the minis-
try, prayed and fasted, before they laid on their hands. 59 It
is true, at the first planting of the Gospel, orders were confer-
red at any time, as there was occasion : but as soon as the
Church was settled, the ordination of ministers was affixed to
certain set times, which was the first original of these four
weeks of fasting.
. 2. They are called ember -weeks (as some ^ go ca]led
think) from a German word which imports absti-
nence : though others are of the opinion that they are so called,
because it was customary among the ancients to express their
humiliation at those seasons of fasting, by sprinkling ashes
upon their heads, or sitting on them ; and when they broke
their fasts on such days to eat only cakes baked upon embers,
which were therefore called ember-bread. But the most pro-
bable conjecture is that of Dr. Mareschal, who derives it from
a Saxon word, importing a circuit or course ,- so that these
fasts being not occasional, but returning every year in certain
courses, may properly be said to be ember-days, i. e . fasts
in course. 60
. 3. They were formerly observed in several
churches with some variety, 61 but were at last observed! 63
settled by the Council of Placentia, A. D. 1095,
69 Acts xiii. 3. 6 In his observations upon the Saxon Gospels, pages 528, 529.
81 See the answers of Ecbright upon question 16, in Johnson's Ecclesiastical Laws,
A. D. 734.
208 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
to be the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the first
Sunday in Lent, after Whit-Sunday, after the fourteenth of
September, which was then observed as the feast of holy-
cross, and the thirteenth of December, which was then also
observed in remembrance of St. Lucy. 62
Why ordinations 4 - The reasons why the ordinations of minis-
are fixed to these ters are fixed to these set times of fasting are these :
first, that as all men's souls are concerned in the
ordaining a fit clergy, so all may join in fasting and prayer for
a blessing upon it : secondly, that both bishops and candi-
dates, knowing the time, may prepare themselves for this great
work : thirdly, that no vacancy may remain long unsupplied :
lastly, that the people, knowing the times, may, if they please,
be present, either to approve the choice made by the bishop,
of to object against those whom they know to be unworthy ;
which primitive privilege is still reserved to the people in this
well-constituted Church.
SECT. III. Of Christmas-day.
HOW early ob- THOUGH the learned in most ages have dif-
served in the fered concerning the day and month of our
Saviour's nativity, yet we are certain that the
festival was very early observed in the primitive Church. And
if the day was mistaken, yet the matter of the mistake being
of no greater moment than the false calculation of a day ; it
will certainly be very pardonable in those who perform the
business of the festival, with as much piety and devotion as
they could do, if they certainly knew the time.
. 2. And that no one may want an opportunity
""ttedj! f r to celebrate so great a festival with a suitable
solemnity, the Church both excites and assists our
devotion, by an admirable frame of office fitted to the day.
In the first Lessons 63 she reads to us the clearest prophecies
of Christ's coming in the flesh ; and in the second Lessons,**
Epistle, and Gospel, shews us the completion of those prophe-
cies, by giving us the entire history of it. In the collect she
teaches us to pray, that we may be partakers of the benefit of
his birth, and in the proper psalms she sets us to our duty of
praising and glorifying God for his incomprehensible mystery.
TheCoiiect Epis- ^ ne Epistle and Gospel are the same that
tie, and Gospel, were used in the most ancient Liturgies ; but
* Concil. torn. x. col. 502, B. * Ilia, ix. to ver. 8. chap. vil. ver. 10 to ver. 17.
Luke II. to ver. 15. Tit. iii. ver. 4 to ver. 0.
SECT, in.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 209
the Collect was made new in 1549. In the first book of
king Edward VI. they are appointed for the second commu-
nion, which I suppose was the principal one : since the first
was probably more early in the morning, for the benefit of
servants, and others who could not attend at the usual time.
The Collect for the first communion was different from what
we now use,* as were also the Epistle and Gospel ; the Epistle
beginning Tit. ii. ver. 11, to the end ; the Gospel, Luke ii. to
ver. 15, the last of which we now read for the second Lesson
in the morning service.
8. 3. The Psalms for the morning are Psalms .
i I rr-i A i i a j j The Psalms.
xix. xlv. Ixxxv. The xixth was chiefly designed
to give glory to God for all his works of power and excel-
lence : the beginning of it, viz. Tlw heavens declare the glory
of God, &c., is extraordinarily applicable to the day : for at the
birth of Christ a new star appeared, which declared his glory
and deity so plainly, that it fetched wise men from the East
to come and worship him. The following verses all set forth
God's goodness, in giving so excellent a rule of life to men,
and in warning us of the great danger of presumptuous sins.
The xlvth Psalm is thought to be an epithalamium, or mar-
riage-song, upon the nuptials of Solomon and the king of
Egypt's daughter ; but it is mystically, and in a most eminent
sense, applicable to the union between Christ and his Church.
The Ixxxvth Psalm was principally set for the birth of Christ ;
and so the primitive Christians understood it ; and therefore
chose it as a part of their office for this day, as being proper
and pertinent to the matter of the feast. The prophet indeed
speaks of it as a thing past, but that is no more than what is
usual in all prophecies : for by speaking of things after that
manner, they signified their prophecies should as surely come
to pass, as if what they had foretold had already happened. 65
The evening Psalms are Psalms Ixxxix. ex. cxxxii. The
Ixxxixth is a commemoration of the mercies performed and
promised to be continued to David and his posterity to the
end of the world. The greatest of which mercies, viz. the
birth of the Messiah, the Church this day celebrates; and
therefore appoints this psalm to excite us to thanksgiving for
* The Collect for the first communion in king Edward's first book was this : " God,
which makest us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thy only Son Jesus
Christ ; grant, that as we joyfully receive him for our Redeemer, so we may with sure
confidence behold him, when he shall come to be our Judge, who liveth and reigneth,"
&c. K> Acts ii. 30, 31.
P
210 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. T.
such an inestimable mercy, by shewing us how only the bare
promise of it, so many ages since, wrought upon the saints of
those times. The cxth Psalm is a prophecy of the exaltation
of the Messiah to his regal and sacerdotal office j 86 both which
are by him exercised at the right hand of the Father, and set-
tled on him as a reward of his humiliation and passion. 67 The
cxxxiind Psalm seems to have been at first composed by So-
lomon upon the building of the temple (part of it being used
in his prayer at the dedication of it). 68 It recounts David's
care - of the ark, and his desire to build God a temple, and
God's promises thereupon made to him and his posterity, of
setting his seed upon the throne till the coming of Christ,
SECT. IV. Of the days of St. Stephen, St. John, and tfo Innocents.
THAT the observation of these days is ancient,
The em"' y f we h &ve tne testimonies of several very ancient
writers, 69 who all assure us that they were cele-
brated in the primitive times.
. . . 8. 2. The placing of them immediately after
Why observed /-,, a . s ' ,
immediately af- (Jhnstmas-day was to intimate, as is supposed,
day^and^the that none &Te thought fitter attendants on Christ's
order they are nativity, than those blessed martyrs, who have
not scrupled to lay down their temporal lives for
him, from whose incarnation and birth they received life
eternal. And accordingly we may observe, that as there are
three kinds of martyrdom ; the first both in will and in deed,
which is the highest ; the second in will, but not in deed ; the
third in deed, but not in will ; so the Church commemorates
these martyrs in the same order : St. Stephen first, who suf-
fered death both in will and in deed ; St. John the Evangel-
ist next, who suffered martyrdom in will, but not in deed,
being miraculously delivered out of a caldron of burning oil,
into which he was put before Port Latin in Rome; 70 the holy
Innocents last, who suffered in deed, but not in will ; for
though they were not sensible upon what account they suffer-
ed, yet it is certain that they suffered for the sake of Christ ;
since it was upon the account of his birth that their lives were
taken away. And besides, wheresoever their story shall be
told, the cause also of their deaths will be declared and made
Matt. xxii. 44. Act 11. 84. 1 Cor. XT. 25. Heb. i. 13. " PhU. ii. 8, 9.
" 2 Chron. vi. 4 1, 42. Orig. Horn. 3, in Divers, part. 2, p. 282, G. Aug. in Natal.
Su-ph. Martyris, Serm. 314, torn. T. col. 1260, B. Chryi. in S. Stephanum, Oral. 135,
136, torn. T. p. 864, &c. et alibi. w Ten. de Prmc. Haer. c. 36, p. 215, A.
SECT, iv.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 211
known : for which reason they cannot be denied, even in the
most proper sense, to be true martyrs or witnesses of Christ.
Mr. L'Estrange 71 imagines another reason for the order of
these days. He supposes St. Stephen is commemorated first,
as being the first martyr for Christianity : that St. John has
the second place, as being the disciple which Jesus loved : and
that the Innocents are commemorated next, because their
slaughter was the first considerable consequence of our Sa-
viour's birth. To this he adds another conjecture, viz. " That
martyrdom, love, and innocence are first to be magnified, as
wherein Christ is most honoured."
8. 3. The Collects for the days of St. Stephen _ . _ ..
sj J i L i Their Collects,
and the holy Innocents were made new at the Epistles, and
Restoration ; and that for S$. John was somewhat Gos P els -
altered.* But the Epistles and Gospels for all these days are
the same that we meet with in the oldest offices ; excepting
that the Epistle for St. John was first inserted at the Re-
formation, instead of a Lesson out of the xxvth of Ecclesi-
asticus.
The reasons of their choice are very plain. On St. Ste-
phen's day the Epistle gives us an account of his martyrdom,
and the Gospel assures us, that his blood, and the blood of all
those that have suffered for the name of Christ, shall be re-
quired at the hands of those that shed it. On St. John's day
both the Epistle and the Gospel are taken out of his own writ-
ings, and very aptly answer to one another : the Epistle cpn-
tains St. John's testimony of Christ, and the Gospel Christ's
testimony of St. John : the Gospel seems applicable to the
day, as it commemorates this evangelist ; but the Epistle
seems to be chosen upon account of its being an attendant
upon the preceding more solemn festival. On the Innocents'
day the Gospel contains the history of the bloody massacre
committed by Herod ; and for the Epistle is read part of the
xivth chapter of the Revelation, shewing the glorious state of
those and the like innocents in heaven.
* The old Collect for St. Stephen's day was this : " Grant ns, O Lord, to learn to love
our enemies by the example of thy martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed for.his persecu-
tors to thee, which livest and reignest," &c.
In the Collect for St. John's day, after the words, " Evangelist Saint John," followed,
" may attain to thy everlasting gifts, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."
The Collect for Innocents' day was as follows : " Almighty God, whose praise this day
the young innocents thy witnesses have confessed and shewed forth, not in speaking but
in dying ; mortify and kill all vices in us, that in our conversation or life we may express
thy faith, which with our tongues we do confess, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."
Alliance of Divine Offices, p. 137. Lond. 1690.
P 2
212 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. y.
SECT. V. Of the Sunday after Christmas-day.
IT was a custom among the primitive Chris-
0ct obser f vS! erIy tians to observe the Octave, or eighth day after
their principal feasts, with great solemnity, (the
reasons whereof shall be given in speaking of the particular
prefaces in the Communion Office hereafter ;) and upon every
day between the feast and the Octave, as also upon the Octave
itself, they used to repeat some part of that service which was
performed upon the feast itself. In imitation of which religious
custom, this day generally falling within the Octave of Christ-
mas-day, the Collect then used is repeated now; and the
Epistle and Gospel still set forth the mysteries of our redemp-
tion by the birth of Christ. Before the Reformation, instead
of the present Gospel, was read Luke ii. ver. 33 to ver. 41.
But then the first of St. Matthew was appointed, which is still
retained ; excepting that the first seventeen verses, relating
to our Saviour's genealogy, were left out at the Restoration.
SECT. VI. Of the Circumcision.
THIS feast is celebrated by the Church, to
commemorate the active obedience of Jesus
Christ in fulfilling all righteousness, which is one
branch of the meritorious cause of our redemption ; and by
that means abrogating the severe injunctions of the Mosaical
establishment, and putting us under the easier terms of the
Gospel.
. 2. The observation of this feast is not of
antiquity of very greaj . ant j qu j ty . fa e fi rst mention of it un-
der this title is in Ivo Carnotensis, who lived
about the year 1090, a little before St. Bernard, which latter
has also a sermon upon it. In Isidore, and other more early
writers, it is mentioned under the name of the Octave of Christ-
mas. The reason why it was not then observed as the feast
of the circumcision, was probably because it fell upon the
calends of January, which was celebrated among the heathens
with so much disorder and revellings, and other tokens of
idolatry, that St. Chrysostom calls it topnjy 2ia/3o\tic>)v, the
Devil's festival. For which reason the sixth general Council
absolutely forbade the observation of it among Christians. 72
Concil. Trull. Can. 62.
SECT. 711.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 213
8. 3. The proper services are all very suitable T , T c
u! , * r . T r- xi_ The Lessons.
to the day. The first Lesson tor the morning Epistle, and
gives an account of the institution of circum- Gos P el -
cision ; and the Gospel, of the circumcision of Christ : the
first Lesson at evening, and the second Lessons and Epistle,
all tend to the same end, viz. that since the circumcision of
the flesh is now abrogated, God hath no respect of persons,
nor requires any more of us than the circumcision of the heart.
The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the day were ell first in-
serted in 1549.
SECT. VIL Of the Epiphany.
THE word Epiphany in Greek signifies Mani-
festation, and was at first used both for Christ-
mas-day, when Christ was manifested in the flesh,
and for this day, (to which it is now more properly appropri-
ated,) when he was manifested by a star to the Gentiles : from
which identity of the word, some have concluded that the
feasts of Christmas-day and the Epiphany were one and the
same : but that they were two different feasts, observed upon
two several days, is plain from many of the Fathers. 73
But besides this common and more usual name,
we find two other titles given to it by the an- me TofTt!
cients, viz. ra ayta 0wra, 74 the day of the Holy
Lights ; and ra Qeotyaveia, the Theophany, or Manifestation of
God.' 1 ' 3 The first name was given it, as being the day whereon
they commemorated the baptism of Christ, who from that
time became a light to those that sat in darkness : upon which
account this day was as solemn for baptizing the catechumens
among the Latins, as Easter and Whitsuntide among the
Greeks. And for the greater solemnity of so high a festival,
it was the custom to adorn the public churches with a great
number of lights and tapers, when they came to perform the
service of the day. The reason of the other name is very
plain, the feast being instituted in commemoration of the first
manifestations of our Saviour's divinity.
. 2. The principal design of the Church's ce- The feast of jt
lebrating this feast, is to shew our gratitude to to what end in-
God, in manifesting the Gospel to the Gentile 8tituted -
world, and vouchsafing to them equal privileges with the Jews,
73 Aug. Serai. 102, torn. v. col. 914, P. Greg. Naz. in S. Lum. prat. 39, torn. i. p. 624,
&c. et alii. ;1 Greg. Naz. in Sanct. Lum. " Epiph. Oral, in Ascens. Domini.
214 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
who had been all along his peculiar people ; the first instance
of which divine favour was in declaring the birth of Christ to
the wise men of the East.
Three manifest*- . 3 - But in all, there are three great manifest-
tions of Christ ations of our Saviour commemorated on this day ;
ted - all which, St. Chrysostom tells us, happened on
the same day, though not in the same year : the first of which
was what I just now mentioned, viz. his manifestation by a
star, which conducted the wise men to come and worship him,
which we commemorate in the Collect and Gospel. The e-
The Lessons, cond manifestation was that of the glorious Trinity
collect, Epistle, at his baptism, mentioned in the second Lesson
at morning prayer. The second Lesson at even-
ing service contains the third, which was the manifestation of
the glory and divinity of Christ, by his miraculous turning
water into wine. The first Lesson contains prophecies of the
increase of the Church by the abundant access of the Gentiles,
of which the Epistle contains the completion, giving an ac-
count of the mystery of the Gospel's being revealed to them.
The Collect and Gospel for this day are the same that were
used in the ancient offices ; but the Epistle was inserted at the
first compiling of our Liturgy, instead of part of the Ixth of
Isaiah, which is now read for the first Lesson in the morning.*
SECT. VIII. Of the Sundays after the Epiphany.
The design of the FROM Christmas to Epiphany, the Church's
Epistles and design in all her proper services, is to set forth
the humanity of our Saviour, and to manifest him
in the flesh : but from the Epiphany to Septuagesima Sunday
(especially in the four following Sundays) she endeavours to
manifest his divinity, by recounting to us in the Gospels some
of his first miracles and manifestations of his Deity. The de-
sign of the Epistles is to excite us to imitate Christ as far as
we can, and to manifest ourselves his disciples by a constant
practice of all Christian virtues.
The collects E- ^' '^ e Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for
pkties, and GO- the five first Sundays after the Epiphany, are all
the same as in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory,
In the Common Prayer Books of king James, and down to the Restoration, Isaiah
the zlth was by mistake (as I presume) set down for the morning first Lesson, instead
of the Ixth, from whence the same error is continued in some of our present books.
The Ixth chapter was undoubtedly designed, being in all the books of king Edward,
queen Elizabeth, the Scotch Liturgy, and the Scaled Book, at the Restoration. And in
those books of king James, where the xlth chapter first appears in the table of the Let-
son* appointed for Holy-days, the Ixth chapter stands against the day in the calendar.
SECT, ix.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 215
except that the Collect for the fourth Sunday was a little
amended at the Restoration,* and that before the Reformation
the Epistle for that day was the same with the Epistle for the
first Sunday in Advent.
The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the sixth Sunday were
all added at the last review ; till when, if there happened to
be six Sundays after the Epiphany, the Collect, Epistle, and
Gospel for the fifth Sunday were repeated : though in the
Salisbury Missal the service of the third Sunday is ordered to
be used upon such an occasion.
SECT. IX. Of Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquage-
sima Sundays.
AMONG the several reasons given for the names
of these Sundays, the most probable seems to be
this : the first Sunday in Lent, being forty days before Eas-
ter, was for that reason called Quadragesima Sunday, which
in Latin signifies forty ; and fifty being the next round num-
ber above forty, as sixty is to fifty, and seventy to sixty;
therefore the Sunday immediately preceding Quadragesima
Sunday, being further from Easter than that was, was called
Quinquagesima (or fifty) Sunday, which is also fifty days in-
clusive before Easter: and the two foregoing Sundays, being
still further distant, were for the same reason called Sexa-
gesima and Septuagesima (sixty and seventy) Sundays.
. 2. The observation of these days and the
weeks following appear to be as ancient as the The t d jf e s j^ of
times of Gregory the Great. The design of them
is to call us back from our Christmas feasting and joy, in or-
der to prepare ourselves for fasting and humiliation in the
approaching time of Lent; from thinking of the manner of
Christ's coming into the world, to reflect upon the cause of
it, viz. our own sins and miseries ; that so being convinced of
the reasonableness of punishing and mortifying ourselves for
our sins, we may the more strictly and religiously apply our-
selves to those duties when the proper time for them comes.
Some of the more devout Christians observed the whole
time, from the first of these Sundays to Easter, as a season
of humiliation and fasting ; though the generality of the peo-
ple did not begin their fasts till Ash-Wednesday.
The old Collect was this : " O God, which knowest us to be set in the midst of so
many and great dangers, that for man's frailness we cannot always stand uprightly :
Rrant to us the health of body and soul, that all those things which we suffer for sin, by
thy help we may well pass and overcome, through Christ our Lord. Amen."
216 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
The Collects ^- The Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for
Eputies, and these days are all the same as in the ancient Li-
turgies, excepting only the Collect for Quinqua-
gesima Sunday, which was made new, A. D. 1549. They are
all of them plainly suitable to the times. The Epistles are all
three taken out of St. Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians : the
two first persuade us to acts of mortification and penance, by
proposing to us St. Paul's example : but because all bodily ex-
ercises without charity profit us nothing; therefore the Church,
in the Epistle for Quinquagesima Sunday, recommends charity
to us, as a necessary foundation for all our other acts of religion.
The design of the Gospels is much the same with that of
the Epistles : that for Septuagesima Sunday tells us, by way
of parable, that all that expect to be rewarded hereafter, must
perform these religious duties now ; and to all those who have
been so idle as to neglect their duties all their lifetime hither-
to, it affords comfort, by assuring them, they may still entitle
themselves to a reward, if they will now set about them with
diligence and sincerity. The Gospel for Sexagesima Sunday,
in another parable, admonishes us to be careful and circum-
spect in the performance of our duty, since there is scarce one
in four who profess religion, that brings forth fruit to perfec-
tion. And, lastly, the Gospel for Quinquagesima Sunday
shews us how we are to perform these duties ; advising us by
the example of the blind beggar to add faith to our charity,
and to continue incessant in our prayers, and not to despair
of the acceptance of them, because we are not immediately
heard, but to cry so much the more, Jesus, tJtou Son of Da-
vid, have mercy on us.
. 4. The Tuesday after Quinquagesima Sun-
^ av * s g enera % called Shrove-Tucsday ; a name
given it from the old Saxon words, shrive, shrift,
or shrove, which in that language signifies to confess , it be-
ing a constant custom amongst the Roman Catholics to con-
fess their sins on that day, in order to receive the blessed Sa-
crament, and thereby qualify themselves for a more religious
observation of the. holy time of Lent immediately ensuing.
But this in process of time was turned into a custom of invita-
tions, and their taking their leave of flesh and other dainties ;
and afterwards, by degrees, into sports and merriments, which
still in that Church make up the whole business of the car-
nival.
SECT, x.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 217
SECT. X. Of the Forty days in Lent.
THOUGH it ought to be the constant endeavour The necessity of
of a Christian to observe his duty at all times, some set time for
and to have always a great regard to what God humUiation -
requires of him ; yet, considering the great corruption of the
world, and the frailty of our nature, and how often we trans-
gress the bounds of our duty, and how backward we are to
cross our fleshly appetites, it is very expedient we should
have some solemn season appointed for the examining our
lives, and the exercise of repentance.
. 2. And accordingly we find that, from the
very first ages of Christianity, it was customary The *j?*| <lulty
for the Christians to set apart some time for mor-
tification and self-denial, to prepare themselves for the feast
of Easter. Irenaeus, who lived but ninety years from the
death of St. John, and conversed familiarly with St. Polycarp,
as Polycarp had with St. John, has happened to let us know,
though incidentally, that as it was observed in his time, so it
was in that of his predecessors. 76
. 3. As to its original, the present lord bishop Itg oriclnal
of Bath and Wells, in his learned Discourse con-
cerning Lent, has shewed, by very probable arguments, that
the Christian Lent took its rise from the Jewish preparation
to their yearly expiation. He likewise proves out of their own
writers, that the Jews began their solemn humiliation forty
days before the expiation. "Wherefore the primitive Chris-
tians, following their example, set up this fast at the beginning
of Christianity, as a proper preparative for the commemoration
of the great expiation of the sins of the whole world.
. 4. It is true indeed, as to the length of it,
the Christian Lent was observed with great variety Jrvecuuirst
at first : some fasting only one day, some two,
some more, and some for forty days together, i. e. if Eusebius
be rightly understood by the learned Dr. Grabe : if not, we
must reduce the forty days to an entire abstinence of forty
hours only, according to Valesius ; 7T from which number of
hours some think it is most probable this fast was first called
TEffffapaKoffTij, or quadragesima ; as beginning about twelve on
Friday, (the time of our Saviour's falling under the power of
' Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1. 5, c. 24, p. 192, D. " Vid. Euseb. ut supra, et Vale*, et
Bevereg. in loc. p. 247, edit. Reading.
218 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
death,) and continuing till Sunday morning, the time of his
rising again from the dead. But afterwards it was enlarged to
a longer time, drawn out into more days, and then weeks, till
it was at last fixed to forty days , which number seems very
anciently to have been appropriated to repentance and humili-
ation. For not to reckon up the forty days in which God
drowned the world, 78 or the forty years in which the children
of Israel did penance in the wilderness, 79 or the forty stripes
by which malefactors were to be corrected ; M whoever con-
siders that Moses did, not once only, fast this number of
days, 91 that Elias also fasted in the wilderness the same space
of time, ei that the Ninevites had precisely as many days al-
lowed for their repentance, 83 and that our blessed Saviour him-
self, when he was pleased to fast, observed the same length of
time : M whoever, I say, considers these things, cannot but
think that this number of days is very suitable to extraordi-
nary humiliation.
8. 5. It receives its name from the time of the
Why called Lent. 3 , . . . , , , . , .,
year wherein it is observed ; Lent, in the old
Saxon language, signifying Spring, being now used to signify
this spring fast, which always begins so that it
^Ejuter" 1 at mav en( ^ at E aster ; to remind us of our Saviour's
sufferings, which ended at his resurrection.
HOW observed by * During tn ' 8 whole season, they were used
the primitive to give the most public testimonies of sorrow and
repentance, and to shew the greatest signs of
humiliation that can be imagined : no marriages were allowed
of, nor any thing that might give the least occasion to mirth
or cheerfulness ; w insomuch that they would not celebrate the
memories of the Apostles or martyrs, that happened within
this time, upon the ordinary week-days, but transferred the
commemoration of them to the Saturdays or Sundays. 86 For
the Eastern Christians, as I have already observed, 87 celebrated
Saturday as well as Sunday as a day of festival devotions. But
except on those two days, even the holy eucharist was not
consecrated during the whole time of Lent, that being an act,
as those Fathers thought, more suitable and proper for a fes-
tival than a fast.** On those days indeed they consecrated
enough to supply the communions of each day, till either
Gen. vil. 4. " Numb. xlr. 34. Dnt. XXY. 3. Deut. Ix. 9, 18, 25.
* 1 Kinff* xtx. 8. Jonah 1U. 4. Matt iv. 2. Concil. Laod. Can. 52,
torn. 1. col. 1505, C. * Concil. Laod. Can. 51. " Page 186. Ibid. Can. 49.
SECT xi.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 219
Saturday or Sunday returned again. For though the sacra-
ment was not consecrated on the ordinary week-days, yet it
was customary to receive it every day ; and therefore to those
that came to communicate upon any of those days, they ad-
ministered out of what the Greeks call the Trpoj/yiaoyzeVa, the
Latins prcesanctificata, both which words signify the same
thing, viz. the bread and wine that were ready consecrated.
Nor was the demeanour of the primitive Christians at home
less strict and austere than their discipline at church ; they lay
in sackcloth and ashes, and took no care of their garb or dress ;
they used no other food but what was necessary to preserve
life ; 89 some abstaining from flesh and wine ; others, especially
the Greeks, forbearing all fish likewise as well as flesh : some
contented themselves with eggs and fruits; others forbore both,
and lived upon bread, herbs, and roots : but all agreed in this,
viz. that whereas at other seasons their fasts continued but till
three in the afternoon, they would not on any day in Lent eat
till the evening, 90 and then such food as was least delicate. 91
SECT. XL Of Ash- Wednesday, or the first day of Lent.
THE first day of Lent had formerly two names,
one of which was Caput Jejunii, the Head of the
Fast; the other, Dies Cinerum, Ash-Wednes-
day. The first compellation was given because Lent began
on that day ; for since it was never the custom of the Church
to fast on Sundays, (whereon we commemorate so great a
blessing as our Saviour's resurrection,) therefore we begin
Lent on this day, to supply the room of those Sundays. For
if you deduct out of the six weeks of Lent the six Sundays,
there will remain but thirty-six fasting-days, to which these four
of this week being added, make up the exact number of forty.
. 2. The name of Ash-Wednesday proceeded
from a custom in the ancient discipline, which ^JnH^Hat 81 *"
i i j weauesaay.
began very early to be exercised on this day ; an
account whereof we have in Gratian 93 as follows :
On the first day of Lent the penitents were to present them-
selves before the bishop clothed with sackcloth, with naked
feet, and eyes turned to the ground : and this was to be done
in the presence of the principal of the clergy of the diocese, who
89 Tertull. de Poenit. passim. 9 Basil. Horn. 1, de Jejun. et Prudent. Hymn, ante
Cibum. Epiphan. Expos. Fid. Cathol. c. 22, torn. i. p. 1105, B.C. w 1 Part
Deer. Dist. 50, c. 64, torn. i. p. 331.
220 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. T.
were to judge of the sincerity of their repentance. These in-
troduced them into the church, where the bishop, all in tears,
and the rest of the clergy, repeated the seven penitential
psalms. Then rising from prayers, they threw ashes upon
them, and covered their heads with sackcloth ; and then with
mournful sighs declared to them that as Adam was thrown out
of Paradise, so they must be thrown out of the Church.
Then the bishop commanded the officers to turn them out of
the church-doors ; and all the clergy followed after, repeating
that curse upon Adam, In the srceat of thy broro shall thou
eat thy bread. The like penance was inflicted upon them the
next time the Sacrament was administered, which was the
Sunday following. And all this was done to the end that the
penitents, observing how great a disorder the Church was in by
reason of their crimes, should not lightly esteem of penance.
How observed 3. Though this discipline was severe, yet the
by the churchof many good consequences of it shewed it worthy
the imitation of all Churches in succeeding ages ;
and ours in particular heartily bewails the want of it : but till
she can be so happy as to succeed in discharging those obli-
gations she lies under to restore it, she supplies that want, by
adding to her ordinary service a very proper and suitable office
called the Commination, which shall be treated of hereafter in
its turn.
. 4. In the ordinary morning and evening
service, instead of the Psalms for the day, are
appointed six of David's penitential Psalms, (the seventh be-
ing used in the office of Commination :) concerning which we
need only observe, that they are tho very forms wherein that
royal prophet expressed his repentance, and were all composed
by him in times of affliction, and contain supplications and
prayers to be delivered from all temporal and spiritual ene-
mies ; and have, for this reason, been very much esteemed of
in the Church in all ages, 93 and were always thought proper to
be used in times of humiliation and repentance.
The Collect, **. The Collect for this day was made new at
Epintie, nd' the compiling of the. Liturgy ; the Epistle and
Gospel were taken out of the old offices. For
the former is read part of Joel, which, together with the latter,
cautions us to be very careful, that, whilst we seem to be ready
at all external signs of sorrow, we be not void of internal con-
trition.
** Greg. Maj. Comment, in 7 Pal. Pirn. torn. ill. col. 369, ftc.
SECT, xil.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPKLS. 221
. 6. There are no proper Lessons appointed NO Lessons ap-
for this day, which I presume proceeded from an pointed.
omission of the compilers.
SECT. XIL Of the Sundays in Lent.
THOUGH the Church allows us to interrupt our The Co iiects,
fasts on the Sundays in Lent, by reason of the Epistles, and
eminency of those days ; yet, lest the pleasant-
ness of those intervals should entice us to a discontinuance of
our mortification and abstinence in the returning week-days,
when we ought to renew it with the greater zeal, she takes care
to remind us of the duties we have undertaken, and therefore
in the Epistles (which were continued from the old Missals)
sets before us the obligations we lie under of returning to our
acts of self-denial and humiliation. But because all this with-
out charity is nothing worth, the Gospels (which are of the
same antiquity) are designed to excite us to the exercise of that
great duty in all its branches, by proposing to us the example
of our great Lord and Master, the blessed Jesus, who not only
fasted and withstood the greatest temptations of doing evil in
his own person, 94 but went about seeking opportunities of do-
ing good to others ; healing the sick, 95 feeding the hungry, 96
blessing those that cursed him, 97 and doing good to those that
despitefully used him: 98 in all which actions we are, at this
time especially, bound to imitate him. The Collects, as well
as the Epistles and Gospels, for all these Sundays, are the
same that we meet with in the old offices, excepting that the
first was made new at the Reformation, and the last is, in the
Liturgy of St. Ambrose, appointed for Good-Friday.
. 2. The Sundays in Lent are by our own
Church, as well as the Greek, generally termed Su h n ^ y n ^ nt>
by their number, being called the first, second,
and third Sunday, &c. in Lent ; but the three last are some-
times distinguished by particular names of their own : the
fourth, for instance, is with us generally called
Midlent-Sunday : though bishop Sparrow, and M
some others, term it Dominica Refectionis, the Sunday of
Refreshment .- the reason of which, I suppose, is the Gospel
for the day, which treats of our Saviour's miraculously feeding
five thousand ; or else perhaps the first Lesson in the morning,
which gives us the story of Joseph's entertaining his brethren.
9 * Gospel for the first Sunday in Lent. i For the second. * For the third.
97 For the fourth. ** For the fifth.
222 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
The probable rise ^ n( ^ ^ e appointment of these Scriptures upon
of Midienting or this day might probably give the first rise to a
custom still retained in many parts of England,
and well known by the name of Midienting or Mothering.
Passion-Sunday ^ ne ^^ Sunday in Lent is, by the Latins
especially, often called Passion- Sunday ; though
I think that would be a more proper name for the Sunday fol-
lowing : but the reason, I suppose, why that title is thrown
back to this, is because the Sunday next before Easter is
generally called Palm-Sundaii, in commemora-
Palm-Sunday. P, / o . .. 11 j. T
tion of our baviour s triumphal entry into Jeru-
salem, when the multitude that attended him strewed palm-
branches in his way: 99 in remembrance of which palms were
used to be borne here with us upon this day till the second
year of king Edward VI. 100
SECT. XIIL Of the Passion -Week.
Passion-week '^ HE fN wm g week was by some looked upon
as a distinct time of fasting from the foregoing
Lent, and as instituted upon different accounts : that being
observed in imitation of our Saviour's fasting, &c., as has been
already observed ; this in commemoration of his sufferings and
passion, which were then completed. 1 But by others it was
only accounted a continuation of the same fast in a stricter
degree : it being generally called the great roeek? not because
it had more hours or days in it than any other week, but be-
cause in this week was transacted an affair of the greatest im-
portance to the happiness of man, and actions truly great were
performed to secure his salvation : death was conquered, the
devil's tyranny was abolished, the partition-wall betwixt Jew
and Gentile was broken down, and God and man were recon-
ciled. 3 It was also called the holy f meek, from
ow'" tnose devout exercises which Christians employed
formerly oo- themselves in upon this occasion. They applied
themselves to prayer, both in public and private,
to hearing and reading God's holy word, and exercising a most
solemn repentance for those sins which crucified the Lord of
life. They observed the whole week with great strictness of
Iid. Hispal. de Offlc. Eccl. lib. 1, cap. 27. Collier's History, vol. ii. p. 241.
1 Anastaiiua Antiochenus (qui vivit 655) in Coteleri Notis in Const. Apostol. 1. 5, c. 13,
torn. 1. p. 316, edit. Cleric. Antw. 1698, et Matthsus Monachus ibid. Vide Vales.
in Euseb. 1. 5, c, 24, p. 247, col. 2, edit. Reading. CUrys. Horn. 30, in Gen. zi 1
torn. i. p. 23.1.
SECT, xin.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 223
fasting and humiliation ; some fasting three days together ;
some four ; and others, who could bear it, the whole six ; be-
ginning on Monday morning, and not eating any thing again
till cock-crowing on the Sunday morning following. And se-
veral of the Christian emperors, to shew what veneration they
had for this holy season, caused all lawsuits to cease, and tri-
bunal doors to be shut, and prisoners to be set free ; 4 thereby
imitating their great Lord and Master, who by his death at
this time delivered us from the prison and chains of sin.
. 2. The Church of England uses all the Ho w observed by
means she can to retain this decent and pious the church of
custom, and hath made sufficient provision for ng an '
the exercise of the devotion of her members in public ; call-
ing us every day this week to meditate upon our Lord's suf-
ferings, and collecting in the Lessons, Epistles, and Gospels,
most of those portions of Scripture that relate to this tragical
subject, to increase our humiliation by the consideration of
our Saviour's ; to the end that with penitent hearts, and firm
resolution of dying likewise to sin, we may attend our Saviour
through the several stages of his bitter passion.
8. 3. Our reformers did not much confine them- ,, ,,
i i /-< i i f i 11 The Gospels.
selves to the Gospels appointed for this week by
the ancient offices ; but thought, as there was time enough to
admit of it, it would be most regular and useful to read all the
four Evangelists' accounts of our Saviour's passion, as they
stand in order. To this end they have ordered St. Matthew's
account on the Sunday, appointing the xxvith chapter for the
second Lesson, and the xxviith, as far as relates to his crucifix-
ion, for the Gospel.* On Monday and Tuesday is read the
story as by St. Mark ; on Wednesday and Thursday that by
St. Luke,f and on Good-Friday the xviiith of St. John is ap-
pointed for the second Lesson, and the xixth for the Gospel.J
The Epistles also that are now appointed are . fi
more suitable to the season, than those that were
found in older offices.
As for the Collect, the same that is used on the . , c .
Sunday before is appointed (as indeed a very pro-
Both the xxvith and xxviith chapters were read for the Gospel on the Sunday before
Sailer till the last review, and the xxviith was continued to the end of the 56th verse.
t The xvth of St. Mark, which was the Gospel for Tuesday, and Luke xxiii., which
was appointed for Wednesday, were in all former books read throughout.
J Both the chapters of St. John were appointed for the Gospel in the former books.
Cod. Theod. lib. 9, tit. 35, de Quaestione 4, torn. iii. p. 252.
224 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
per one) to be used on the four days following till Good-Fri-
day : on which day it is also appointed in the Liturgy of St.
Ambrose, though in^other offices it is found, as with us, upon
the Sunday before.
SECT. XIV. Of the Thursday before Easter.
Maundy-Tnurs- THIS day is called (Dies Mandati) Mandate or
day, why so call- Maundy- Thursday , from the commandment
which our Saviour gave his Apostles to com-
memorate the Sacrament of his Supper, which he this day in-
stituted after the celebration of the Passover ; and which was,
for that reason, generally received in the evening of the day : 6
or, as others think, from that neve commandment which he
gave them to love one another, after he had washed their feet,
in token of the love he bore to them, as is recorded in the
second Lesson at morning prayer.
. 2. The Gospel for this day is suitable to the
EpUitle p^ a Go8 - time, as treating of our Saviour's passion ; but
the Epistle is something different, containing an
account of the institution of the Lord's Supper: the constant
celebration of which on this day, both in the morning and in
the evening, after supper, 6 in commemoration of its being first
instituted at that time, rendered that portion of Scripture very
suitable to the day.
The form of re- ^' ^ n this day the Penitents, that were put
concUing Peni- out of the church upon Ash-Wednesday, were
received again into the church, partly that they
might be partakers of the holy Communion, and partly in re-
membrance of our Lord's being on this day apprehended and
bound, in order to work our deliverance and freedom. 7
The form of reconciling Penitents was this : the bishop went
out to the doors of the church where the Penitents lay pros-
trate upon the earth, and thrice, in the name of Christ, called
them, Come, come, come, ye children, hearken to me ; I mill
teach you the fear of the Lord. Then, after he had prayed
for them, and admonished them, he reconciled them, and
brought them into the church. The Penitents thus received,
trimmed their heads and beards, and laying off their peniten-
tial weeds, reclothed themselves in decent apparel.*
Concil. Carthag. 3, Can. 29. Codex. Can. Eccles. Afrir. Can. 41. Concil. Car-
thag. 3, Can. 29. Codex Can. Eccles. Afric. Can. 41. Concil. Trul. Can. 29. Aug. ad
Jan. Ep. 118. ' Innocent. Ernst, ut citat. ab Ivo, part. 15, cap. 40, et a Barchardo,
1. 18, c. 18. Caplt. 1. 7, c. 143.
SECT, xv.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 225
. 4. It may not be amiss to observe, that the The cnurch .
church-doors used to be all set open on this day, doors always set
to signify that penitent sinners, coming from open
north or south, or any part of the world, should be received
to mercy, and the Church's favour.
SECT. XV. Of Good-Friday.
THIS day received its name from the blessed m go ca]led
effects of our Saviour's sufferings, which are the
ground of all our joy, and from those unspeakable good things
he hath purchased for us by his death, whereby the blessed
Jesus made expiation for the sins of the whole world, and, by
the shedding his own blood, obtained eternal redemption for
us. Among the Saxons it was called Long -Friday ,- 9 but for
what reasons (excepting for the long fastings and offices they
then used) does not appear.
. 2. The Commemoration of our Saviour's
sufferings hath been kept from the very first age Why ^^ed as
of Christianity, 10 and was always observed as a
day of the strictest fasting and humiliation ; not that the grief
and affliction they then expressed did arise from the loss they
sustained, but from a sense of the guilt of the sins of the
whole world, which drew upon our blessed Redeemer that
painful and shameful death of the Cross.
. 3. The Gospel for this day (besides its com- The Gospel> why
ing in course) is properly taken out of St. John taken out of
rather than any other Evangelist, because he was s<
the only one that was present at the passion, and stood by the
cross while others fled : and therefore, the passion being as it
were represented before our eyes, his testimony is read who
saw it himself, and from whose example we may learn not to
be ashamed or afraid of the cross of Christ. 11 The .
The Epistle proves from the insufficiency of the
Jewish sacrifices, that they only typified a more sufficient
one, which the Son of God did as on this day offer up, and by
one oblation of himself then made upon the cross, completed
all the other sacrifices, (which were only shadows of this,) and
made full satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. In
imitation of which Divine and infinite love, the The Collect
Church endeavours to shew her charity to be
9 See the thirty-seventh Canon of Elfric in Mr. Johnson's Ecclesiastical Laws, A. D.
957. ' Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. 2, cap. 17, p. 57, B. Apost. Const. 1. 5, c. 13.
11 Rupertus de Officiis Divinii, 1. 6, c. 8.
226 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. T.
boundless and unlimited, by praying in one of the proper Col-
lects, that the effects of Christ's death may be as universal
as the design of it, viz. that it may tend to the salvation of
all, Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics.*
8. 4. How suitable the proper psalms are to
The Psalms. , , s j , , . ,
the day, is obvious to any one that reads them
with a due attention : they were all composed by David in
times of the greatest calamity and distress, and do most of
them belong mystically to the crucifixion of our Saviour;
especially the twenty-second, which is the first for the morn-
ing, which was in several passages literally fulfilled by his
sufferings, and either part of it, or all, recited by him upon
the cross. 12 And for that reason (as St. Austin tells us) 13 was
always used upon that day by the African Church.
8. 5. The first Lesson for the morning is
The Lessons. /-, " -. .
Genesis xxn., containing an account of Abra-
ham's readiness to offer up his son ; thereby typifying that
perfect oblation which was this day made by the Son of God :
which was thought so proper a Lesson for this occasion, that
the Church used it upon this day in St. Austin's time. 14 The
second Lesson is St. John xviii., which needs no explana-
tion. The first Lesson for the evening 15 contains a clear pro-
phecy of the passion of Christ, and of the benefits which the
Church thereby receives. The second Lesson 16 exhorts us to
patience under afflictions, from the example of Christ, who
suffered so much for us.
SECT. XVI. Of Easter-eve.
HOW observed in THIS ^ ve was * n tne ancient Church celebrated
the primitive with more than ordinary devotions, with solemn
watchings, with multitudes of lighted torches
both in their churches and their own private houses, and
with a general resort and confluence of all ranks of people. 17
At Constantinople it was observed with most magnificent
illuminations, not only within the Church, but without. All
over the city lighted torches were set up, or rather pillars of
wax, which gloriously turned the night into day. 18 All which
was designed as a forerunner of that great light, even the
* In the first Common Prayer Book of king Edward, the first of the Collect* for this
day is appointed to be used at matins only ; the other two at the Communion.
' See Matt, xxvll. 35, 43, 46. u Aug. in Psalm, xxi. in Pnefat. Serm. 2.
" August. 6erm.de Temp. 71. Isaiah liii. il Peter ii. Greg. Nax.
Oral. 42, torn. i. p. 67G, D. ' Euseb. Vit. Const, lib. 4, cap. 22, p. 536, A. B.
SECT, xvii.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 227
Sun of Righteousness, which the next day arose upon the
world.
As the day was kept as a strict fast, so the vigil continued
at least till midnight, the congregation not being dismissed till
that time ; 19 it being a tradition of the Church, that our Sa-
viour rose a little after midnight : but in the East the vigil
lasted till cock-crowing ; the time being spent in reading the
Law and the Prophets, in expounding the holy Scriptures,
and in baptizing the catechumens. 20
8. 2. Such decent solemnities would in these ,,,.,,,.,,,
j f .... Jiuw uuHcrveu uy
days be looked upon as popish and antichnstian : the Church of
for which reason, since they are only indifferent En & land -
(though innocent) ceremonies, the Church of England hath
laid them aside : but for the exercise of the devotions of her
true sons, she retains as much of the primitive discipline as
she can ; advising us to fast in private, and calling us together
in public, to meditate upon our Saviour's death, burial, ana
descent into hell : which article of our faith the public service
of the Church this day confirms, the Gospel
treating of Christ's body lying in the grave, the The ^"1. and
Epistle of his soul's descent into hell. It is true,
the Epistle is by some people otherwise interpreted : but the
other parts of it are, notwithstanding, very proper for Easter-
eve ; the former part of it exciting us to suffer cheerfully,
even though for well doing, after the example of Christ, who,
as at this time, had once suffered for sins, the just for the un-
just ; the latter part shewing us the end and efficacy of bap-
tism, which was always, in the primitive Church, administered
to the catechumens on this day.
8. 3. Till the Scotch Liturgy was compiled,
,i . i n 11 . 1? .1 j Ti The Collect.
there was no particular Collect for this day ; those
for Good-Friday, I suppose, were repeated : and that which
was appointed in the Scotch Liturgy was different from our
present one, which I shall therefore give the reader below.*
SECT. XVIL Of Easter-day.
HAVING now, as it were, with the Apostles and
first believers, stood mournfully by the cross on
O most gracious God, look upon us in mercy, and grant that as we are baptized
into the death of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ ; so by our true and hearty repent-
ance all our sins may be buried with him, and we not fear the grave : that as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of thee, O Father, so we also may walk in newness
of life, but our sins never be able to rise in judgment against us, and that for the merit
of Jesus Christ, that died, was buried, and rose again for us. Amen.
18 Const. Apost. lib. 5, cap. 18. Const. Apost. lib. 5, cap. 14, 17, 18.
Q 2
228 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
Good-Friday, and on the day following been again over-
whelmed with grief, for the loss of the Bridegroom ; the
Church this day, upon the first notice of his resurrection from
the grave, calls upon us, with a becoming and holy transport,
to turn our heaviness into joy, to put off our sackcloth, and
gird ourselves with gladness.
when first ob- ^- That in and from the times of the Apos-
served, and why ties, there has been always observed an anniver-
sary festival in memory of Christ's resurrection,
(which from the old Saxon word osier, signifying to rise, we
call Easter-day, or the day of the resurrection ; or, as others
think, from one of the Saxon goddesses called Easter, which
they always worshipped at this time of the year,) no man can
doubt, that hath any insight into the affairs of the ancient
Church : in those purer times, the only dispute being not about
the thing, but the particular time when the festival was to be
kept. But of this I have said enough before. 21
8. 3. As for the manner of observing it, we
The anthems in- / S .1 . . i . j .1
stead of the Ve- find that it was always accounted the queen, or
nrte Exuitemus, highest of festivals, and celebrated with the
greatest solemnity. 22 In the primitive times the
Christians of all Churches on this day used this morning sa-
lutation, Christ is risen ; to which those who were saluted
answered, Christ is risen indeed ; or else thus, and hath ap-
peared unto Simon ,- 23 a custom still retained in the Greek
Church. 24 And our Church, supposing us as eager of the joy-
ful news as they were, is loath to withhold from us long the
pleasure of expressing it ; and therefore, as soon as the Abso-
lution is pronounced, and we are thereby rendered fit for re-
joicing, she begins her office of praise with anthems proper to
the day, encouraging her members to call upon one another
to keep the feast : for that Christ our Passover is sacrificed
for us, and is also risen from t/ic dead, and become the first-
fruits of them that slept, &c.*
* The first of these sentences was added at the last review : the second (which was
the first in king Edward's first Common Prayer) was concluded with two Allelujahs,
and the next with one. After which was inserted as follows :
" The Prittt. Shew forth to all nations the glory of God.
" The Amicer. And among all people his wonderful works.
" Let us pray.
" O God, who for our redemption didst (five thine only-begotten Son to the death of
the cross; and, by his glorious resurrection, hast delivered us from the power of our
enemy ; grant us so to die dally from sin. that we may evermore live with him in the
joy of his Resurrection, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen."
' See page 36, fcc. Greg. Naz. Orat. 42. torn. i. p. 676, C. Luke xxiv. 34.
* Dr. Smith's Account of the Greek Church, p. 32.
SECT, xvii.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 229
8. 4. The Psalms for the morning are Psalm ii.
i t rni_ c. i c u- v. J i- The Psalms.
Ivii. cxi. I he first ot which was composed by
David, upon his being triumphantly settled in his kingdom,
after some short opposition made by his enemies : but it is also
(as the Jews themselves confess) a prophetical representation
of Christ's inauguration to his regal and sacerdotal offices;
who after he had been violently opposed, and even crucified
by his adversaries, was raised from the dead, by the power of
his Father, and exalted to those great offices in the successful
exercise whereof our salvation consists. The Iviith Psalm was
occasioned by David's being delivered from Saul, by whom he
was pursued after he had been so merciful to him in the cave,
when he had it in his power to destroy him ; and, in a mystical
sense, contains Christ's triumph over death and hell. The last
Psalm for the morning is a thanksgiving to God for all the
marvellous works of our redemption, of which the resurrection
of Christ is the chief; and therefore, though the Psalm does
not peculiarly belong to the day, yet it is very suitable to the
business of it.
The Psalms for evening prayer are cxiii. cxiv. cxviii. The
cxiiith was designed to set forth, in several particulars, the ad-
mirable providence of God, which being never more discernible
than in the great work of our redemption, this Psalm can never
be more seasonably recited. The cxivth Psalm is a thanks-
giving for the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt ; which being
a type of our deliverance from death and hell, makes this
Psalm very proper for this day. The last Psalm for the day
is the cxviiith, which is supposed to have been composed at
first upon account of the undisturbed peace of David's king-
dom, after the ark was brought into Jerusalem : but it was
secondarily intended for our Saviour's resurrection, to which
we find it applied both by St. Matthew and St. Luke. 25
. 5. The first Lessons for the morning and The LegsonSi
evening service contain an account of the Pass- collect, Epistle,
over, and of the Israelites' deliverance out of ai
Egypt, both very suitable to the day : for by their Passover
Christ our Passover was prefigured ; and the deliverance of
the Israelites out of Egypt, and the drowning of Pharaoh and
his host in the Red Sea, was a type of our deliverance from
death and sin, which is done away by our being baptized with
water into Christ. The Gospel and the second Lesson for the
Matt. xxi. 42. Acts iv. 11.
230 OP THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
evening give us the full evidence of Christ's resurrection ; and
the Epistle and the second Lesson for the morning teach us
what use we must make of it.
The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel are all very old : in the
first book of king Edward they are appointed for the first com-
munion ; for I have observed,* that upon the great feasts they
had then two communions, and a distinct service at each.
For the second communion they had the same Collect which
we now use upon the first Sunday after Easter. The Epistle
for that service was 1 Cor. v. 6, to ver. 9 ; the Gospel was
Mark xvi. to ver. 9.
SECT. XVIIL Of the Monday and Tuesday in Easter- Week.
AMONG the primitive Christians this queen of
betwrJn^Easter f eas ^ 8 t a8 those Fathers called it, was so highly
and Whitsuntide esteemed, that it was solemnized fifty days to-
formeriyob g et her, even from Easter to Whitsuntide j 27 and
this so strictly in the Spanish Church, that even
the rogations were amongst them deferred by an order of
council till Whitsuntide was over ;* 9 during which whole time
baptism was conferred, all fasts were suspended and counted
unlawful, they prayed standing, (as they were wont to do every
Lord's day in token of joy,) thereby making every one of
those days in a manner equal to Sunday. As devotion abated,
this feast was shortened ; yet long after Tertullian, even to
Gratian's time and downwards, the whole weeks of Easter and
Whitsuntide were reckoned as holy-days. 29 And in our own
Church, though she hath appointed Epistles and Gospels for
the Monday and Tuesday only of this week, which contain
full evidences of our Saviour's resurrection ; * yet she makes
provision for the solemn observation of the whole week, by
appointing a preface suitable to the season for eight days to-
gether in the office of Communion.
Easter-week, ^- The occasion of this week's solemnity was
why so solemnly principally intended for the expressing our joy
for our Lord's resurrection. But among the an-
cients there was another peculiar reason for the more solemn
* Formerly three days were appointed as holy -days at Easter and Whitsuntide, 11 and
then it is probable that the Wednesday also had an Epistle and Gospel.
Page 206. Tert. de Jejuniis. c. 14, p. 552, B. De Idol. c. 14, p. 94, B. De
Coron. Mil. c. 3, p. 102, A. Condi. Nicen. Can. 20, torn. ii. col. 37. Concil. Ge-
rundens, Can. 2. Strabo de Offlc. Krrlcs. 1. 2, c. 34. * Gratian de Consecrat. Dist.
S, c. 1, p. 2421. See archbishop Iilep's Constitution in Mr. Johnson's Ecclesiasti-
cal Laws, and his note upon it, A. D. 1362, 3.
SECT, xviii.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 231
observation of this week. For except in cases of necessity
they administered baptism at no other times than Easter and
Whitsuntide ; at Easter, in memory of Christ's death and re-
surrection, (correspondent to which are the two parts of the
Christian life represented in baptism, dying unto sin, and ris-
ing again unto newness of life ,-) and at Whitsuntide, in me-
mory of the Apostles being then baptized with the Holy Ghost
and with fire, and of their having themselves at that time
baptized three thousand souls; 31 this communication of the
Holy Ghost to the Apostles being in some measure represented
and conveyed by baptism. After these times, they made it
part of their festivity the week following to congratulate the
access of a new Christian progeny : the new-baptized coming
each day to church in white garments, with lights before
them, in token that they had now laid aside their works of
darkness, and were become the children of light, and had
made a resolution to lead a new, innocent, and unspotted life. 32
At church, thanksgivings and prayers were made for them, and
those that were at years of discretion (for in those times many
such came in from heathenism) were instructed in the princi-
ples and ways of Christianity : but afterwards, when most of
the baptized were infants, and so not capable of such solemni-
ties, this custom was altered, and baptism administered at all
times of the year, as at the beginning of Christianity.
8. 3. The first Lesson for Monday morning 33 _, T
o J . o The Lessons.
treats about God s sending the Israelites manna
or bread from heaven, which was a type of our blessed Saviour,
who was the bread of life that came down from heaven, of
which whosoever eateth hath eternal life. The first Lesson
for Monday evening 34 contains the history of the vanquishing
the Amalekites, by the holding up of Moses's hands ; by which
posture he put himself into the form of a cross, and exactly
typified the victory which Christians obtain over their spiritual
enemies by the cross of Christ. The smiting also of the rock,
out of which came water, (mentioned in the same chapter,) is
another type of our Saviour : for as the water flowing from
the rock quenched the Israelites' thirst ; so our Saviour, smit-
ten upon the cross, gave forth that living water, of which who-
soever drinketh shall never thirst. The second Lessons 36
contain full testimonies of our Saviour's resurrection ; that for
t
Acts ii. 41. ss Ambr. de Initiand. c. 7, torn. iv. col. 348. ss Exod. xvL
34 Exod. xvii. 1 Cor. x. 4. 30 Matt, xxviii. and Acts iii.
232 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY -DAYS, AND [CHAP. T.
the morning giving an historical account of it ; the other for
the evening containing a relation of a lame man being restored
to his feet, through faith in the name of Christ, which was an
undeniable proof that he was then alive.
The first Lesson for Tuesday morning 37 contains the Ten
Commandments, which were communicated to the people
from God by the ministry of Moses, wherein he prefigured
our Saviour, who was to be a prophet like unto him, 38 i. e. who
was to bring down a new law from heaven, and more perfectly
to reveal the divine will to man. The first Lesson at even-
ing 39 represents Moses interceding with God for the children
of Israel, for whom (rather than God should impute to them
their sins) he desired even to die, and be blotted out of tJie
book of life : thereby also typifying Christ, who died and teas
made a curse for us.* The second Lesson for the morning 41
is a further evidence of our Saviour's resurrection ; and that for
the evening 42 proves, by his resurrection, the necessity of ours.
The Epistles and Gospels for these days are the same as in
old offices ; but the Collect for Tuesday, till the last review,
was what we now use on the Sunday after, being the same
that in king Edward's first Common Prayer Book was ap-
pointed for the second communion on Easter-day.
SECT. XIX. Of the Sundays after Easter.
. UPON the octave, or first Sunday after Easter-
day, it was a custom of the ancients to repeat
some part of the solemnity which was used upon
Easter-day : from whence this Sunday took the name of Low-
Sunday, being celebrated as a feast, though of a lower de-
gree than Easter-day itself. In Latin it is called
mtate'iif AIW Dominica in Albis, or rather post Albas, (sc. de-
positas,} as some ritualists call it, i. e. tJie Sun-
day of putting off tlie chrysoms ; because those that were
baptized on Easter-eve, on this day laid aside those white
robes or chrysoms which were put upon them at their bap-
tism, and which were now laid up in the churches, that they
might be produced as evidences against them, if they should
afterwards violate or deny that faith which they had professed
in their baptism. And we may still observe, that the Epistle
seems to be the remains of such a solemnity ; for it contains
* Exod. xx. Deut. xvlii. 15. Exod. xxxil. Gal. ill. IS.
Luke xxiv. to rer. 13. 1 Cor. XT.
SECT, xx.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 233
an exhortation to new-baptized persons, that are born of God,
to labour to overcome the world, which at their baptism they
had resolved to do. Both that and the Gospel were used
very anciently upon this day : but in all the old books, ex-
cept the first of king Edward, the Collect for Easter-day was
ordered to be repeated; but at the last review, the Collect
prescribed in that first book was again inserted on this day ;
it being the same which was originally appointed for the second
communion on Easter-day itself, which was then also used on
the Tuesday following.
.2. As for the other Sundays after Easter,
we have already observed, that they were all E^"^^
spent in joyful commemorations of our Saviour's Gospels for the
resurrection, and the promise of the Comforter ; a^Sr? 8
and accordingly we find, that both those grand
occasions of joy and exultation are the principal subjects of
all the Gospels from Easter to Whitsuntide. But, lest our joy
should grow presumptuous and luxuriant, (joy being always
apt to exceed,) the Epistles for the same time exhort us to
the practice of such duties as are answerable to the profession
of Christians ; admonishing us to believe in Christ, to rise from
the death of sin, to be penitent, loving, meek, charitable, &c.,
having our blessed Lord himself for our example, and the
promise of his Spirit for our strength, comfort, and guide.
The Collect for the second Sunday was made new in 1549,
and that for the fourth was corrected in the beginning of it*
at the last review : but the other Collects are very old, as are
all the Epistles and Gospels, which are very suitable to the
season ; especially the Gospel for the fifth Sunday, which
seems to be allotted to that day upon two accounts : first, be-
cause it foretells our Saviour's ascension, which the Church
commemorates on the Thursday following ; and, secondly, be-
cause it is applicable to the rogations, which were performed
on the three following days, of which therefore we shall sub-
join a short account.
SECT. XX. Of the Rogation-days.
ABOUT the middle of the fifth century, Ma- Rogation ^ a ,. 8)
mercus, bishop of Vienne, upon the prospect of when first OD- '
some particular calamities that threatened his 8erved -
* The old beginning of it was, " Almighty God, which dost make the minds of all
faithful men to be of one will, Grant," &c.
234 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND ICHAP. v.
diocese, appointed that extraordinary prayers and supplica-
tions should be offered up with fasting to God, for averting
those impendent evils, upon the three days immediately pre-
ceding the day of our Lord's ascension; 43 from which sup-
plications (which the Greeks call Litanies, but
An caUed y . s ^ e Latins Rogations] these days have ever since
been called Rogation-days. For some few years
after, this example was followed by Sidonius, bishop of Cler-
mont, (though he indeed hints that Mamercus was rather the
restorer than the inventor of the rogations, 44 ) and in the be-
ginning of the sixth century the first Council of Orleans ap-
pointed that they should be yearly observed. 45
. 2. In these fasts the Church had a regard,
SeirlnstitutLn. not on ty to P re P are our minds to celebrate our
Saviour's ascension after a devout manner ; but
also, by fervent prayer and humiliation to appease God's
wrath, and deprecate his displeasure, that so he might avert
those judgments which the sins of the nation deserved ; that he
might be pleased to bless the fruits with which the earth is at
this time covered, and not pour upon us those scourges of his
wrath, pestilence and war, which ordinarily begin in this season,
why continued 3- At the Reformation, when all processions
at the Reform- were abolished by reason of the abuse of them,
yet for retaining the perambulation of the cir-
cuits of parishes, it was ordered, " That the people shall once
a year at the time accustomed, with the Curate and substan-
tial men of the parish, walk about the parishes, as they were
accustomed, and at their return to church make their common
prayers. Provided that the Curate, in the said common per-
ambulations, used heretofore in the days of rogations, at cer-
tain convenient places, shall admonish the people to give
thanks to God, in the beholding of God's benefits, for the in-
crease and abundance of his fruits upon the face of the earth,
with the saying of the hundred and fourth Psalm, Benedic,
an'n i m mea, &c. At which time also the same Minister shall
inculcate this and such like sentences, Cursed be he which
translateth the bounds and doles of his nei</lil>our, or such
other order of prayer as shall be hereafter appointed." 46 No
48 Avtti archiepiscopi Vien. A. D. 490. Homil. in Bibliotheca SS. Patrum. Paris.
1575, ton), vii. col. 938. And from him Greg. Turonemis, 1. 2, c. 34, apud Histor.
Francor. Scriptores, Part*. 16S6. torn. i. p. 289, A. " Sidon. 1. 5, Ep. 14. Con-
cil. Aurel. Can. 27, torn. iv. col. 1408, D. E. * Injunction of queen Elizabeth, 18,
19, in bishop Sparrow's Collection, p. 73.
gECl. xxi.] THEIK COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 235
such prayers indeed have been since published ; but there is
a homily appointed, which is divided into four parts ; the three
first to be used upon the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday,
and the fourth upon the day when the parish make their pro-
cession.
SECT. XXI. Of Ascension-day.
FORTY days after his resurrection, our blessed
. ii-i ] j -,i i_ Ascension-day.
Saviour publicly ascended with our human nature
into heaven, and presented it to God, who placed it at his
own right hand, and by the reception of those first-fruits sanc-
tified the whole race of mankind. As a thankful acknowledg-
ment of which great and mysterious act of our redemption,
the Church hath from the beginning of Christianity set apart
this day for its commemoration ; 47 and for the greater solemn-
ity of it, our Church in particular hath selected such peculiar
offices as are suitable to the occasion ; as may be seen by a
short view of the particulars.
. 2. Instead of the ordinary Psalms for the
morning, are appointed the viiith, xvth, xxist;
and for the afternoon, the xxivth, xlviith, cviiith. The viiith
Psalm was at first designed by David for the magnifying God
for his wonderful creation of the world, and for his goodness
to mankind, in appointing him to be Lord of so great a work :
but in a prophetical sense, it sets forth his more admirable
mercy to men, in exalting our human nature above all crea-
tures in the world, which was eminently completed in our
Saviour's assumption of the flesh, and ascending with it to
heaven, and reigning in it there. The xvth Psalm shews how
justly our Saviour ascended the holy hill, the highest heavens,
of which Mount Sion was a type : since he was the only per-
son that had all the qualifications which that Psalm mentions,
and which we must endeavour to attain, if ever we de-
sire to follow him to those blessed mansions. The xxist, or
last Psalm for the morning, was plainly fulfilled in our Sa-
viour's ascension, when lie put all his enemies to flight, and was
exalted in his own strength, when he entered into everlasting
felicity, and had a crown of pure gold set upon his head.
The first Psalm for the evening service is the xxivth, com-
posed by David upon the bringing the ark into the house
which he had prepared for it in Mount Sion. And as that
St. Chrysos. in Diem, Orat. 87, torn. v. p. 595. Const. Apost. 1. 5, c. 18.
236 OP THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS. AND [CHAP. v.
was a type of Christ's ascension into heaven, so is this Psalm
a prophecy of that exaltation likewise, and alludes so very
plainly to it, that Theodore says, it was actually sung at his
ascension by a choir of angels that attended him. 48 The next
is the xlviith, which was an exhortation to the Jews to bless God
for his power and mercy in subduing the heathen nations about
them ; but is mystically applied to the Christian Church,
which it exhorts to rejoice and sing praise, because God is
gone up rcith a merry noise, and tlie Lord with the sound of
the trump: who being now very high exalted, defends his
Church as tvitli a shield , subduing his enemies, and joining
the princes of the people to his inheritance. In the cviiith
Psalm, the prophet awakens himself and his instruments of
music to give thanks to God among the people, for setting
himself above the heavens, and his glory above all the earth ;
which was most literally fulfilled this day in his ascension
into heaven, and sitting down at the right hand of God.
. 3. In the first Lesson for the morning 49
is recorded Moses's going up to the mount to
receive the law from God to deliver it to the Jews, which
was the type of our Saviour's ascension into heaven, to send
down a new law, the law of faith. The first Lesson at even-
ing 50 contains the history of Elijah's being taken up into
heaven, and of his conferring at that time a double portion
of his spirit on Elisha ; which exactly prefigured our Saviour,
who, after he was ascended, sent down the fulness of his
Spirit upon his Apostles and disciples. The second Lessons "
are plainly suitable to the day ; as are also the
ei Ue ' Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, which are the same
as we meet with in the oldest offices.
SECT. XXII. Of the Sunday after Ascension-day.
Expectation- DuKiKo this week the Apostles continued in
week, why so earnest prayer and expectation of the Comforter,
whom our Saviour had promised to send them,
from whence it is sometimes called Expectation-roeek. The
The Collect, Collect for this day was a little altered at the
Epistle, and Reformation, but the Epistle and Gospel are the
jopel. same that were used of old. The Gospel con-
tains the promise of the Comforter, who is the Spirit of
In Pialm zxiv. Deut. r. 2 King* ii.
Luke xxiv. 44, and Epb. iv. to ver. 17.
SECT, xxm.l THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 237
truth ; and the Epistle exhorts every one to make such use
of those gifts which the Holy Spirit shall bestow upon them,
as becomes good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
SECT. XXIIL Of Whit-Sunday.
THE feast of Pentecost was of great eminency.
among the Jews, in memory of the Law's being
delivered on Mount Sinai at that time ; and of
no less note among the Christians, for the Holy Ghost's de-
scending the very same day upon the Apostles and other
Christians in the visible appearance of fiery tongues, and of
those miraculous powers that were then conferred upon them.
It was observed with the same respect to Easter, as the Jewish
Pentecost was to their Passover, viz. (as the word imports)
just fifty days afterwards. Some conclude, from St. Paul's
earnest desire of being at Jerusalem at this time, 52 that the
observation of it as a Christian festival is as old as the Apos-
tles : but whatever St. Paul's design was, we are assured that
it hath been universally observed from the very first ages of
Christianity. 53
S. 2. It was styled IPTiit-Sunday, partly be-
.., . J.,Y. p i- ?. j i Why so called.
cause of those vast diffusions of light and know-
ledge which were then shed upon the Apostles in order to the
enlightening of the world ; but principally from the white
garments, which they that were baptized at this time put on,
of which we have already given a particular account. 54 Though
Mr. Hamon L'Estrange conjectures that it is derived from
the French word huict, which signifies eight, and then Whit-
Sunday will be Huict-Sunday ', i. e. the Eighth Sunday, viz.
from Easter : and to make his opinion the more probable, he
observes, that the octave of any feast is in the Latin called
utas, which he derives from the French word huictas. 5 * In a
Latin letter I have by me of the famous Gerard Langbain, I
find another account of the original of this word, which he
says he met with accidentally in a Bodleian Manuscript. He
observes from thence, that it was a custom among our ances-
tors upon this day, to give all the milk of their ewes and kine
to the poor for the love of God, in order to qualify themselves
to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost : which milk being then
58 Acts xx. 16. M Vid. Just. Mart. Quaest. et Respons. ad Orthodox. 115. Tert.de
Idol. c. 14, p. 94, B. De Coron. Mil. c. 3, p. 102, A. Orig. adv. Cels. 1. 8, par. 2, p. 522,
L. in Numer. 31. Horn. 25, par. 1, p. 169, A. &* Sect, xviii. . 2, and sect. xix. . 1.
56 See Ms Annotations upon Whit-Sunday, in his Alliance of Divine Offices.
238 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. T.
(as it is still in some counties) called white meat, &c., therefore
this day from that custom took the name of Whit-Sunday.*
The Psalms ' ^' '^^ e P r P er Psalms for the morning ser-
vice are Psalms xlviii. Ixviii. The xlviiith is an
hymn in honour of Jerusalem, as particularly chosen for the
place of God's worship, and for that reason defended by his
more immediate care from all invasions of enemies. It is also
a form of thanksgiving to God for his mercy, in permitting
men to meet in his solemn service, and so in the mystical
sense is an acknowledgment of his glorious mercies afforded
to the Church of Christians under the Gospel, and conse-
quently very suitable to this day, whereon we commemorate
the greatest mercy that ever was vouchsafed to any Church
in the world, viz. the immediate inspiration of the Apostles
by the Holy Ghost, at which all that saro it marcelled ; and
though many that were astonished mere cast down, yet
through the assistance of the same Spirit the Church was
that very day augmented by the access of three thousand
souls. 5 * The other Psalm for the morning is the Ixviiith,
sung at first in commemoration of the great deliverance af-
forded to the Israelites, and of the judgments inflicted on
their enemies ; and contains a. prophetical description of the
ascension of Christ, who went up on high, and led captivity
captive, and received gifts for men ; which benefits he soon
after, as on this day, poured upon the Apostles, at which time
* The letter I have is in manuscript, but seems to be a transcript of a printed letter
of Langbain, dated from Oxford on Whitsun-eve, 1650, and writ in answer to a friend
that had inquired of him the original of the word Whitsuntide ; in which, after he had
hinted at some other opinions, he gives the above-mentioned account in the following
words : " Sed cum ex variantibus Vulgi Sermonibus nihil certi hac in re pronunciari
possit, necesse est uevwMev owep tautv ; atque adhuc liberum cuivis conjectandi relin-
quatur arbitrium. Licebit ideo quod (dum in BodleianS nostri omne genus Manu-
scriptos Codices pervolvo) casu mini obvenerit, hie subjicere. Extat illic MS. hoc titulo,
de solennitatibiu Sanctorum feriandit. Author est anonymus, qui de Festo Pente-
costes agens, luec habet : ' Judsei quatuor pra-cipua celebrant Solemnia ; Pascha, Pente-
costen, Scenopeglam, Enctenia. Nos autem duo de illis celebramus, Pascha et Pente-
costen, sed aha ratione. llli celebrant Pentecosten, quia tune Legem perceperunt :
nos autem ideo, quia tune Spiritus Sanctus missus est Discipulis. llli susceperunt
Tabulis lapideis extrinsecus scripta ad designandam eorum duritiem, quoniam usque
spiritualem intellectum literae non pertingubant : Sed Spiritus Sanctus datus est sep-
tuaginta duobus Discipulis in corde, digito Dei spiritualem intellectum intus dedicante.
Ideoque Dies intellectus dicitur H'itumenday, vel item fitionenday ; quia Praedeces-
sores nostri omne Lac Ovium et Vaccarum suarum solebant dare pauperibus illo die,
pro Dei amorv, ut puriores efncerentur ad recipiendum donum Spiritus Sancti.' Quo-
rum, fere ad Verbum, const-mil Manuscriptus alter hoc titulo, Doclrina quomodo
Curatut pottit Sanctorum vita* per annum pofiulo denunciare. Et certe quod de Lacte
Vaccarum refert, illud percognitum habeo in agro Jlamttmienii (an et alibi nescio)
decimas Lacticiniorum venire vulgo sub hoc nomine. The White* of Kine ; apud Lei-
cettreniei etiam Lacticlnia vulgariter dicuntur H'hitemcat.''
Acti 11. 41.
SECT, xxiv.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 239
the earth shook, and the heavens dropped at the presence of
God ; who sent (as it were) a gracious rain upon his inherit-
ance, and refreshed it when it mas weary ; and when the
Lord gave the word, great mas the company of the preachers.
The Psalms for the evening are Psalms civ. cxlv. The
civth is an elegant and pious meditation on the power and
wisdom of God, in making and preserving all the creatures
of the world. It is used on this day, because some verses are
very applicable to the subject of it : for we herein celebrate
the miraculous works of the Holy Ghost, who made the clouds
his chariot, and walked upon tlie wings of the wind : the
earth, at first, trembled at the look of him ,- but it was after-
wards renewed In/ his breath, and filled with the fruits of his
works. The cxlvth Psalm is a form of solemn thanksgiving
to God, descanting on all his glorious attributes, very proper
for this day, whereon we declare the power of the third Per-
son of the glorious Trinity, and talk of his worship, his glory,
his praise and wondrous works ; we speak of the might of
his marvellous acts, and tell of his greatness.
. 4. The first Lesson for the morning 57 con- The Lesgong)
tains the law of the Jewish Pentecost, or Feast Epistle, and'
of Weeks, which was a type of ours : for as the Gospel -
law was at this time given to the Jews from Mount Sinai, so
also the Christians upon this day received the new evangelical
law from heaven, by the administration of the Holy Ghost.
The first Lesson for the evening 58 is a prophecy of the con-
version of the Gentiles to the kingdom of Christ, through
the inspiration of the Apostles by the Spirit of God ; the
completion of which prophecy is recorded in both the second
Lessons, 59 but especially in the portion of Scripture for the
Epistle, which contains a particular description of the first
wonderful descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, who
were assembled together in one place, in expectation of that
blessed Spirit, according to the promise of our Saviour men-
tioned in the Gospel, which, together with the Collect and
Epistle, were taken from the old Liturgies.
SECT. XXIV. Of the Monday and Tuesday in Whitsun-iceek.
THE Whitsun-week was not entirely festival -\vhitsun-week
like that of Easter ; the Wednesday, Thursday, how formerly '
and Friday being observed as fasts," and days of observed -
Dent. xvi. to ver. 18. Isaiah xi. * Acts x. ver. 34, and chap. xix. to ver. 21
240 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
humiliation and supplication for a blessing upon the work of
ordination, (which was usually on the next Sunday,) in imita-
tion of the apostolical practice mentioned Acts xiii. 3. 60 But
the Monday and Tuesday were observed after the same man-
ner and for the same reasons as in the Easter- week : * so that
what has been said concerning the observation of them, may
suffice for these ; wherefore I shall forbear all repetitions, and
proceed immediately to their proper services.
The collects, ^" ^ e Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for
Epistles, and both these days are ancient : both the Epistles
are concerning the baptism of converts, (this
being, as we have already noted, one of the more solemn times
appointed for baptism,) and concerning their receiving of the
Holy Ghost by the hands of the Apostles, (this being also a
time for confirmation, which was always performed by the
imposition of hands.) The Gospel for Monday seems to
have been allotted for the instruction of the new-baptized ;
teaching them to believe in Christ, and to become the chil-
dren of light. The Gospel for Tuesday seems to be appoint-
ed, as it is one of the ember or ordination weeks ; the design
of it being to put a difference between those who are lawfully
appointed and ordained to the ministry, and those who without
any commission arrogate to themselves that sacred office.
. 3. The first Lesson for Monday morning 62
The Lessons. 3 u - . r,i c c * i. r i i
is a history of the confusion of tongues at Babel,
whereby the Church reminds us, that as the confusion of
tongues spread idolatry through the world, and made men
lose the knowledge of God and true religion ; so God pro-
vided by the gift of tongues to repair the knowledge of him-
self, and lay the foundation of a new religion. In the first
Lesson for Monday evening ^ is recorded the resting of God's
Spirit upon the seventy elders of Israel, to enable them to ease
Moses of part of his burden in governing that numerous peo-
ple ; which exactly prefigured the descent of the same Holy
Spirit at this time upon the Apostles and others, to the same
end, viz. that the care of all the churches might not lie upon
one single person : and accordingly the second Lessons for
this day ftl instruct us that these spiritual gifts, of whatever sort
they be, are all given to profit withal, and therefore must
The Wednesday was also observed formerly in England as a festival.* 1
*' Athanas. Apolog. de Fujfi suit, . 6, torn. i. p. 323, C. Concil. Gerund. Can. 2, torn,
iv. col. 1568, A. " See Mr. Johnson, as cited in pages 105, 225. n Gen. xl. to
ver 10. Numb. si. ver. 16. M 1 Cor. xii. and chap. xiv. 26.
BBCT. xxv.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 241
be all made use of to edification, as to their true and pro-
per end.
The first Lesson for Tuesday morning c5 contains the in-
spiration of Saul and his messengers by the Spirit of God ; and
that at evening ^ is a prophecy of Moses, how God would in
after-times deal with the Jews upon their repentance. The
morning second Lesson 67 forbids us to quench the Spirit of
God, or to despise the prophecies, uttered by it : but because
there are many false prophets gone into the world, the second
Lesson for the afternoon 63 warns us not to believe all teach-
ers who boast of the Spirit, but to try them by the rules of the
catholic faith.
SECT. XXV. Of Trinity Sunday.
IN all the ancient Liturgies we find that this
day was looked upon only as an octave of Pente- ' f ho ^ cient
cost ; the observation of it as the feast of the
Trinity being of a later date : for since the praises of the
Trinity were every day celebrated in the doxology, hymns,
and creeds ; therefore the Church thought there was no need
to set apart one particular day for that which was done on
each. 69 But afterwards when the Arians, and such like here-
tics, were spread over the world, and had vented their blas-
phemies against this divine mystery, the wisdom of the
Church thought it convenient, that though the blessed Trinity
was daily commemorated in its public offices of devotion, yet
it should be the more solemn subject of one particular day's
meditation. So that from the time of pope Alexander III., if
not before, the festival of the holy Trinity was observed in
some Churches on the Sunday after Pentecost, in others on
the Sunday next before Advent. Until in the year 1305, it
was made an established feast, as it stands in our present ca-
lendar, by Benedict XIII. 70 . ^
. 2. The reason why this day was chosen as why^,,^^
most seasonable for this solemnity, was because the Sunday after
our Lord had no sooner ascended into heaven, w 1114 - 8111 " 1 ^-
and the Holy Ghost descended upon the Church, but there
ensued the full knowledge of the glorious and incomprehensi-
ble Trinity, which before that time was not so clearly known.
* 1 Sam. xix. ver. 18. w Deut. xxx. 7 1 Thess. v. ver. 12, to ver. 24.
88 1 John iv. to ver. 14. Decretal. Greg. ix. 1. 2, tit. 9, c. 2, col. 596. Paris. 1601.
10 See Alexander's Decretal. 1. 2, tit. 9, c. 2, as cited by Mr. Johnson in his Ecclesi-
astical Laws, A. D. 1268, 35. Though I suppose for 1305, Mr. Johnson meant 1405, for
Benedict XIII. was not chosen pope till 1394.
R
242 OP THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. T.
The Church therefore having dedicated the foregoing solemn
festivals to the honour of each several person by himself,
thereby celebrating the Unity in Trinity , it was thought
highly seasonable to conclude those solemnities, by adding to
them one festival more to the honour and glory of the whole
Trinity together, therein celebrating the Trinity in Unity.
But in the Greek Church, the Monday in Whitsun-week is
set apart for this purpose, the Sunday following being with
them the festival of All-Saints. 71
8. 3. This mystery was not clearly delivered to
The Lessons. .i T LJ.L.L- i jj
the Jews, because they, being always surrounded
by idolatrous nations, would have easily mistaken it for a doc-
trine of plurality of Gods : but yet it was not so much hidden
in those times, but that any one with a spiritual eye might
have discerned some glimmerings of it dispersed through the
Old Testament. The first chapter in the Bible seems to set
forth three Persons in the Godhead ; for besides the Spirit
of God which mooed upon the waters, ver. 2, we find the
great Creator (at the 26th verse) consulting with others about
the greatest work of his creation, the making of man, of which
we may be assured the Word or Son of God was one, since
all things mere made by him, and without him rcas not any
thing made that teas made. So that those two verses fully
pointing out to us the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, make
this a very proper Lesson for the solemnity of the day. The
reason of the choice of the other first Lesson is as obvious :
it records the appearance of the great JEHOVAH to Abraham,
whom the patriarch acknowledges to be the Judge of all the
earth , and who therefore, by vouchsafing to appear with two
others in his company, might design to represent to him the
Trinity of Persons. But this sacred mystery is no where so
plainly manifested as in the second Lesson for the morning, 74
which at one and the same time relates the baptism of the
Son, the voice of the Father, and the descent of the Holy
Ghost : which though they are (as appears from this chapter)
three distinct Persons in number, yet the second Lesson at
evening 75 shews they are but one in essence.
. 4. The Epistle and Gospel are the same
Epistieand GO- t hat j n anc i en t services were assigned for the oc-
tave of Whit-Sunday : the Gospel especially seems
to be very proper to the season, as being the last day of the
" Smith's Account of the Greek Church, p. 34. John i. 3. n Genesis xviii
" Matthew ill. 1 John v.
SECT. MVI.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 243
more solemn time of baptism ; though they are neither of
them improper to the day, as it is Trinity Sunday : for in both
the Epistle and Gospel are mentioned the three Persons of the
blessed Trinity ; and that noted hymn of the angels in heaven,
mentioned in the portion of Scripture appointed for the Epis-
tle, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, seems of itself to
be a sufficient manifestation of three Persons, and but one God.
The Collect is plainly adapted to this day, as it is Trinity Sun-
day ; though this too is the same as in the office of Sarum.
SECT. XXVI. Of the Sundays from Trinity Sunday to Advent.
IN the annual course of the Gospels for Sun- T , , ,
i -i ii-f. 11 Tn e Gospels for
days and holy-days, the chief matter and sub- the Sundays after
stance of the four Evangelists is collected in Trunt y-
such order as the Church thinks most convenient to make the
deepest impression upon the congregation. The whole time
from Advent to Trinity Sunday is chiefly taken up in com-
memorating the principal acts of Providence in the great work
of our redemption ; and therefore such portions of Scripture
are appointed to be read, as are thought most suitable to the
several solemnities, and most likely to enlighten our under-
standing, nd confirm our faith in the mysteries we celebrate.
But from Trinity Sunday to Advent, the Gospels are not chosen
as peculiarly proper to this or that Sunday, (for that could
only be observed in the greater festivals,) but such passages
are selected out of the Evangelists as are proper for our medi-
tation at all times, and may singularly conduce to the making
us good Christians : such as are the holy doctrine, deeds, and
miracles of the blessed Jesus, who always went about doing
good, and whom the Church always proposes to our imitation.
. 2. The Epistles tend to the same end, being
frequent exhortations to an uninterrupted prac- thTsun^aysafter
tice of all Christian virtues : they are all of them J 1 " 1 ? Be-
taken out of St. Paul's Epistles, and observe the
very order both of Epistles and chapters in which they stand
in the New Testament, except those for the five first Sundays,
that for the eighteenth, and the last for the twenty-fifth.
Those for the five first Sundays are all (except
that for the fourth) taken out of St. John and St. ***$??
Peter ; for which reason they are placed first, that
they might not afterwards interrupt the order of those taken
out of St. Paul.
R 2
244 OP THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
For the variation of the Epistle for the eigh-
teenth Sunday another reason may be given, which
is this : It was an ancient custom of the Church
in the Ember-weeks, to have proper services on the Wednes-
days and Fridays, but especially on the Saturdays ; when, after
a long continuance in prayer and fasting, they performed the
solemnities of the Ordination either late on Saturday evening,
(which was then always looked upon as part of the Lord's day,)
or else early on the morning following ; for which reason, and
because they might be wearied with their prayers and fasting
on the Saturdays, the Sundays following had no public services,
but were called Dominica vacantes, i. e. vacant
wS ?o3d. Sundays. But afterwards, when they thought it
not convenient to let a Sunday pass without any
solemn service, they despatched the Ordination sooner on Sa-
turdays, and performed the solemn service of the Church as
at other times on the Sundays. But these Sundays, having
no particular service of their own, for some time borrowed of
some other days, till they had proper ones fixed pertinent to
the occasion. So that this eighteenth Sunday after Trinity,
often happening to be one of these vacant Sundays, had at the
same time a particular Epistle and Gospel allott^i to it, in
some measure suitable to the solemnity of the time. For the
Epistle hints at the necessity there is of spiritual teachers, and
mentions such qualifications as are specially requisite to those
that are ordained, as the being enriched rcith all utterance,
and in all knowledge, and being behind in no good gift. The
Gospel treats of our Saviour's silencing the most learned of the
Jews by his questions and answers ; thereby also shewing how
his ministers ought to be qualified, viz. able to speak a word
in due season, to give a reason of their faith, and to convince,
or at least to confute, all those that are of heterodox opinions.
The last Sunday, whose Epistle varies from the
F fl r ft t hsu7d e a n y y " order of the rest, is the twenty-fifth, for which
the reason is manifest: for this Sunday being
looked upon as a kind of preparation or forerunner to Advent,
as Advent is to Christmas, an Epistle was chosen, not accord-
ing to the former method, but such a one as so clearly fore-
told the coming of our Saviour, that it was afterwards applied
to him by the common people, as appears by an instance men-
tioned in the Gospel for the same day ; for when they saw the
miracle that Jesus did, they said, This is of a truth that Pro-
SECT, xxvi.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 245
phet that should come into the world. And it was probably
for the sake of this text, that this portion of Scripture (which
has before been appointed for the Gospel on the fourth Sun-
day in Lent) is here repeated ; viz. because they thought this
inference of the multitude a fit preparation for the approach-
ing season of Advent : for which reason, in the rubric follow-
ing this Gospel, we see it is ordered, (according to an old
rule of Micrologus, an ancient ritualist,) that if there are
either more or fewer Sundays between Trinity Sunday
and Advent, the services' must be so ordered, that this last
Collect, Epistle, and Gospel be always used upon the Sun-
day next before Advent ;* i. e. if there be fewer Sundays, the
overplus is to be omitted : but if there be more, the service
of some of those Sundays, that were omitted after the Epiph-
any, are to be taken in fo supply so many as are wanting ;
but which of those services the rubric does not say. And for
that reason there is generally a diversity in the practice : some
reading on those occasions the services next in course to
what had been used at the Epiphany before ; and others, at
the same time, reading the last, or two last, accordingly as one
or both of them are wanting. The last of these practices I
think to be preferable : partly upon the account, that when
there is an overplus of Sundays after Trinity one year, there
is generally a pretty full number after Epiphany the next ; so
that if any of the services for the early Sundays after Epiph-
any are taken in to supply those that are wanting after Trinity,
the same services will come in turn to be read again pretty
soon : but the chief reason why I think the latter services
should be used, is, because the service that is appointed for
the last Sunday after Epiphany, is a more suitable preparation
for the season that is approaching, and makes way for the
service for the last Sunday after Trinity, as that does for the
services appointed for Advent.
5. 3. All the Collects for these Sundays, to-
. , ^, -r, . ,, , _. J ' The Collects.
gether with the Epistles and Gospels, are taken
* There was nothing of this rubric in the Common Prayer Book of 1549. And in all
the other old books, except the Scotch, it was only this : " If there be any more Sun-
days before Advent Sunday, to supply the same shall be taken the service of some of
those Sundays that were omitted between the Epiphany and Septuagesima." To this,
in the Scotch Liturgy, was added further as follows : " but the same shall follow the
twenty -fourth Sunday after Trinity. And if there be fewer Sundays than twenty-five
before Advent, then shall the twenty-third or twenty-fourth, or both.be omitted: so
that the twenty-fifth shall never either alter or be left out, but be always used immedi-
ately before Ad vent-Sunday, to which the Epistle and Gospel of that do expressly relate."
246 OP THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHAP. v.
out of the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, excepting that some
of the Collects were a little corrected and smoothed at the last
review. I do not think it necessary to trouble the reader with
the variations that only amend the expression : but those that
make any alteration in the sense, he may perhaps desire to
have in the margin.*
SECT. XXVII. Of the Immovable Feasts in general.
THESE festivals are all of them fixed to set days,
thems^wes in and so could not be conveniently placed among
the common those we have already treated of. because (they
Prayer Book. . * - ~ ^ J
., - /~ti
having all or them, except those from Christmas-
day to Epiphany, a dependence upon Easter, which varies
every year) they happen sometimes sooner, and sometimes
later. So that if the movable and immovable had been placed
together, it must of necessity have caused a confusion of the
order which they ought to be placed in ; for prevention of
which, the fixed holy-days are placed by themselves, in the
same order in which they stand in the calendar.
. 2. They are most of them set apart in com-
appointed. d memoration of the Apostles and first martyrs ;
concerning the reason and manner of which so-
lemnity, I have already spoken in general, page 189, &c., which
may suffice without descending to particulars : so that now I
shall only make a few observations on some of them, which
may not perhaps seem wholly impertinent.
* In all former Common Prayer Books, the Collects for the following Sundays were
expressed as follows.
For the second Sunday : " Lord, make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy
holy name : for thou never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up
in thy stedfast love : Grant this," 8rc.
In that for the third, the words, " and comforted in all danger and adversities," were
added in the last review.
The Collect for the eighth began thus : " God, whose providence is never deceived,
we humbly beseech thee," Sec., as in our present Liturpy.
In that for the ninth, " that we, which cannot be without thee, may by thee be able
to live," tec.
In that for the eleventh, " Give unto us abundantly thy grace, that we running to
thy promises, may be made partakers," &c.
On the twelfth it ended thus : " and giving us that, that our prayer dare not pre-
sume to ask, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
In the Collect for the fifteenth, the words, " from all things hurtful," were added
in 1661.
In the sixteenth, the word " Congregation " was changed for " Church."
The beginning of the eighteenth was thus : " I-ord, we beseech thee, grant thy peo-
ple grace to avoid the infections of the Devil, and with pure hearts," &c.
In the nineteenth, " Grant that the working of thy mercy may in all things," ftc.
In the twentieth, instead of" may cheerfully " it was formerly " may with free hearts,"
See. And
In the twenty-fourth, instead of " absolve " it was formerly " assoil."
SECT, xxvni.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 247
SECT. XXVIII. Particular Observations on some of the
Immovable Feasts.
CONCERNING St. Andrew we may observe, that st-Andrew - s day>
as he was the first that found the Messiah, 76 and why observed
the first that brought others to him, 77 so the first
Church, for his greater honour, commemorates him first in
her anniversary course of holy-days, and places his festival at
the beginning of Advent, as the most proper to bring the news
of our Saviour's coming.
. 2. St. Thomas's day seems to be placed st . Thomas> why
next, not because he was the second that be- commemorated
lieved Jesus to be the Messiah, but the last that next
believed his resurrection : which though he was at first the
most doubtful, yet he had afterwards the greatest evidence of
its truth ; which the Church recommends to our meditation at
this season, as a fit preparative to our Lord's Nativity. For
unless we believe with St. Thomas, that the same Jesus, whose
birth we immediately afterwards commemorate, is the very
Christ, our Lord and our God , neither his birth, death, nor
resurrection will avail us any thing.
. 3. St. Paul is not commemorated as the
other Apostles are, by his death or martyrdom ; commemorated
but by his conversion; because as it was won- byhisconver-
derful in itself, so it was highly beneficial to the
Church of Christ. For while other Apostles had their par-
ticular provinces, he had the care of all the churches ; and by
his indefatigable labours contributed very much to the propa-
gation of the Gospel throughout the world.
. 4. Whereas some churches keep four holy- The Puriflcation
days in memory of the blessed Virgin, viz. the andAnnuncia-
Nativity, the Annunciation, the Purification, and tlon '
the Assumption ; our Church keeps only two, viz. the An-
nunciation and Purification ; which, though they may have
some relation to the blessed Virgin, do yet more peculiarly
belong to our Saviour. The Annunciation hath a peculiar re-
spect to his Incarnation, who being the eternal Word of the
Father, was at this time made flesh : the Purification is prin-
cipally observed in memory of our Lord's being made mani-
fest in the flesh, when he was presented in the temple.
On the Purification the ancient Christians used abundance
' John i. 38. Verse 42.
248 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS. AND [CHA1>. T.
of lights both in their churches and processions,
^ d n y H i remembrance (as it is supposed) of our bless-
taneu. if* i i 5 j iji ij n*
ed Saviour s being this day declared by old Si-
meon to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, &c., which portion
of Scripture is for that reason appointed for the Gospel for
the day. A practice continued with us in England till the
second year of king Edward VI., when bishop Cranmer forbad
it by order of the Privy Council. 78 And from this custom I
suppose it was, that this day first took the name of Candle-
mas-day.
_ . , , 8. 5. St. Matthias's day being generally dif-
St. Matthias's O^IL J u
day, on what day ferently observed in leap-years, viz. by some on
iea^-yeM erved "" tlie twenty- fourth, and by others on the twenty-
. fifth of February ; I think it not amiss to state
the case in as few words as I can. And to do it clearly, I
must begin with the ancient Julian year, which is known to
have consisted of three hundred sixty-five days and almost
six hours : but because of the inconvenience of inserting six
hours at the end of every year, they were ordered to be re-
served to the end of four years, when they came to a whole
day, and then to be inserted at the twenty-fourth of February.
For the old Roman year ended at February the twenty-third,
and the old intercalary month was always inserted at that
time.* And because the intercalary days (according to the
method of the Egyptians) were never accounted any part of
the month or year, but only an appendix to them, 80 therefore
the Romans in the Julian year accounted the twenty-third
day of February, i. e. the sixth of the calends of March, two
days together, which is the reason that in our calendar, leap-
Leap-year, vear i fl cau<ec l Bissextile, or the year in which
whence called the sixth of the calends of March came twice
isextue. over . Now we in England having been very an-
ciently subjects of the Roman empire, received the Julian
account ; and agreeable to the method of the Romans, our
parliament, in the twenty-first year of king Henry III., A. D.
1236, passed an act, that in every leap-year the additional day,
and the day next going before, should be accounted but for
* This shews Mr. Johnson's mistake in correcting Dr. Wallis for affirming the
twenty-fourth to be the intercalary day. For certainly the day which follows the
twenty-third, if counted for any day, must be called the twenty-fourth."
71 Collier's History, rol. ii. page 241. Addenda to the Clergyman's Vade Me-
cum, at the end of his two cases, pages 108, 109. Cato in Tit. Dig. . 98, expressly
says of the practice of the Romans, Mensem intercalarem addititium esse, cninesque
ejus dies pro momento temporis obscrvandos.
SECT, xxviii.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 249
one day. Now the additional day being inserted, as I have
observed, between the sixth and seventh of the calends of
March, i. e. between the twenty-fourth and twenty-third day
of February;* it follows, that, according to the Roman way
of reckoning, (who reckoned the calends backwards from the
first day of the month,) the day which, in our way of reckoning,
was in ordinary years the twenty-fourth of February, would
in leap-years be the twenty-fifth. And consequently St. Mat-
thias being fixed on that day, which in ordinary years was the
twenty-fourth, must in every leap-year be observed upon
what in our account we call the twenty-fifth ; though in the
Roman way of reckoning both in common years and leap-
years, it is kept the same day, viz. the sixth day inclusive
before the first day of March. And this is according to the
known rule, as old as Durand's time at least.
Bissextum Sextae Martis tenuere Calendae :
Posteriore Die celebrantur Festa Mathiae.
And agreeable to this rule stood the rubric in relation to the
intercalary day, in all the Missals, Breviaries, &c. to the Re-
formation, directing also that in leap-years, St. Matthias's
day should be always kept upon the twenty-fifth of Fe-
bruary, which is still the order and practice in the Church of
Rome. But in both the Common Prayer Books of king Ed-
ward VI. that old rubric was altei^d, and the following one
put in its room.
Here again Mr. Johnson endeavours to correct Dr. Wallis, when he himself is
mistaken. His words are these : " Dr. Wallis says, that the intercalary day is between
the sixth and seventh calends of March. He certainly meant between the sixth and
fifth. It is absurd to suppose that the first six calends, which is February the twenty-
fourth, should be Bissextus, and the twenty-fifth simply Sextus. Primo Sextus must
of necessity precede Bissextus. And Bissextus is but another word for the intercalary
day. The mistake seems to have arisen from the Doctor's forgetting that the compu-
tation of the calends is retrogradous." 8l I desire Mr. Johnson to think again, and then
to recollect who it is that is forgetful of this retrograde computation. He rightly in-
deed observes that Primo Sextus must of necessity precede Bissextus : but which, I
would ask, is the Primo Sextus ? that which stands next to the fifth of the calends, or
that which stands a day further off? Now the fifth calend of March being February
the twenty-fifth, and the calends being to be computed in a backward order, (as Mr.
Johnson well observes,) I would ask again, whether February the twenty-fourth is not
the Primo Sextus ? and consequently whether the day before that (i. e. in order of time)
be not the Bissextus or intercalary day ; and whether the intercalary day be not (as
Dr. Wallis asserts) between the sixth and seventh calends of March, or between the
twenty-fourth and twenty-third of February, though indeed, as we now reckon, it can-
not be called any other than the twenty-fourth ? So that queen Elizabeth's reformers
were not mistaken in thinking the twenty-fourth the intercalary day, as Mr. Johnson
asserts. And therefore he himself must lay claim to the excuse he has made in the
same page for Dr. Wailis, who now, it seems, has no need of it, viz. that " the hap-
piest memories, with the greatest knowledge, cannot secure men against such lapses."
' Addenda to the Clergjinan'j Vade Mecum, at the end of his two cates, paget 108, 109.
250 OF THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CKAP. T.
This is also to be noted, concerning the leap-years, that the
twenty-fifth day of February, which in leap-years is counted
for two days, shall in those two days alter neither Psalm nor
Lesson : but the same Psalms and Lessons which be said the
first day shall serve also for the second day.
This Dr. Nichols and others think to be a mistake in our re-
formers ; and that they were not apprized which was properly
the intercalary day : but I cannot imagine so many great men
to be ignorant both of the rubrics and practice of their own
Church. I therefore suppose that this alteration was made
with design, that there might be no confusion in the observa-
tion of the holy-day ; but that it should be kept on the twenty-
fourth in leap-years as well as others. However, when queen
Elizabeth's Common Prayer was compiled, it was thought
proper to return to the old practice and rule ; and accordingly
in that book the rubric was thus altered.
When the years of our Lard (i. e. when the number of
years from the birth of Christ) may be divided into four even
parts, which is every fourth year, then the Sunday letter leap-
eth ; * and that year the Psalms and Lessons, which serve for
the twenty-third day of February, shall be read again the
day following, except it be Sunday, which hath proper Les-
sons from the Old Testament appointed in the table to serve
to that purpose.
Now according to this rubric St. Matthias's day must again
be kept in leap-years, as it used to be, viz. not on the twenty-
fourth day of February, which was looked upon in this rubric
to be the intercalary day ; but on the day following, which we
call the twenty-fifth. For if the Lessons for the twenty-third
were also to be read upon the twenty-fourth in leap-years,
then that day could not be St. Matthias. For the first Les-
sons appointed for St. Matthias were Wisdom xix. and Ecclus.
i., whereas the first Lessons for the twenty-third of February
were at that time the ivth and vth of Deuteronomy. And thus
stood the rubric till the restoration of king Charles ; when the
revisers of our Liturgy observing, I suppose, that the twenty-
ninth of February was in our civil computation generally
looked upon as the intercalary day ; they thought that it
would be more uniform, and that it would prevent more mis-
takes in the reading of the Common Prayer, to make it so also
in the ecclesiastical computation. For which reason the afore-
Hence every each fourth year receives the name of Leap-year.
SECT, xxvm.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 251
said rubric was then left out, and a twenty-ninth day added to
February, which has Lessons of its own appointed, and till
which day the Sunday or Dominical letter is not changed :
but whereas F used to be doubled at the twenty-fourth and
twenty-fifth days, C, which is the Dominical letter for the
twenty-eighth day, or else D, which is that for the first of
March, is now supposed to be repeated on the twenty-ninth,
notwithstanding Mr. Johnson, without giving any reason, ani-
madverts upon me for saying so : 82 though he himself had
formerly asserted February the twenty-ninth to be the modern
intercalary day ; ^ and that, as I take it, upon better grounds
than he now shews for retracting his opinion. So that there
being now no other variation of the days, than that a day is
added at the end of the month, St. Matthias's day must conse-
quently be always observed on the twenty-fourth day, i. e. as
well in leap-years as others. But notwithstanding the case is
so clear in itself, yet some almanack-makers, still following the
old custom of placing St. Matthias's day in leap-years on the
twenty-fifth, and not on the twenty-fourth of February, are the
occasion of that day's being still variously observed in such
years. For which reason, on February the fifth, A. D. 1683,
archbishop Sancroft (who was himself one of the reviewers of
the Liturgy, and was principally concerned in revising the
calendar, and whose knowledge in that sort of learning excel-
led 84 ) published an injunction or order, requiring all Parsons,
Vicars, and Curates, to take notice, that the feast of St.
Matthias is to be celebrated (not upon the twenty-ffth of
February, as the common almanacks boldly and erroneously
set it, but] upon the twenty -fourth of February for ever,
volietherit be leap-year or not, as the Calendar in the Liturgy,
confirmed by Act of Uniformity, appoints and enjoins.
Dr. Wallis indeed informs us, that " the archbishop (upon
seeing a letter drawn up by him upon the subject, and upon
discourse with others to the same purpose) seemed well satis-
fied that it was his mistake ; and presumes that if he had
continued archbishop to another leap-year, and in good cir-
cumstances, he would have reversed his former orders, and di-
rected the almanacks to be printed as formerly." But this I
conceive to be only a mere presumption of the doctor's. 85 The
81 Addenda, ut supra. ** Clergyman's Vade Mecum, vol. i. p. 207. M See Mr.
Walton's Life of Bishop Sanderson. w Advertisement to bis Treatise concerning St.
Matthias's day, &c., page 2.
252 OP THE SUNDAYS AND HOLY-DAYS, AND [CHA*. T.
archbishop perhaps might think he had deviated from the an-
cient rule : though indeed from Micrologus, 86 who lived about
the year 1080, (two hundred years before Durand, who is the
first that I can find to mention the contrary practice,) it ap-
pears, the ancient custom was to keep St. Matthias, as our pre-
sent Liturgy now enjoins, even in leap-years, upon the twenty-
fourth. However, let the ancient custom have been what it will,
since the archbishop's leaving out the rubric and altering the
calendar was confirmed by the king, both in convocation and
.parliament, it was not in his power to make any alteration
without the consent of the same authority.
. 6. Upon the day of St. Philip and St. James,
S st P jame a s nd til1 the last review, the Church read the eighth
chapter of the Acts for the morning second Les-
son, therein commemorating St. Philip the deacon ; but now
in the room of that she appoints part of the first chapter of St.
John, and commemorates only St. Philip the Apostle, and St.
James the brother of our Lord, the first bishop of Jerusalem,
who wrote the Epistle that bears that name, part of which is
appointed for the Epistle for the day. The other St. James,
the son of Zebedee, for distinction sake surnamed the Great,
(either by reason of his age or stature,) hath another day pe-
culiar to himself in July.
st John the Rap- ^ ' ^ t- J nn Baptist's Nativity is celebrated
tist'g Nativity, by reason of the wonderful circumstances of it,
why celebrated. an( j Qn account Q f the great j oy j t brought to all
those who expected the Messiah. There was formerly another
day (viz. August 29) set apart in commemoration of his be-
heading. But now the Church celebrates both his nativity and
death on one and the same day ; whereon though his myste-
rious birth is principally solemnized, yet the chief passages of
his life and death are severally recorded in the portions of
Scripture appointed for the day.
. 8. I would observe upon the Gospel ap-
thfcotpei for'st. pointed for the festival of St. Bartholomew, 87 that
Bartholomew's tne p ara llel place to it in St. Matthew is appointed
to be read on St. James's day : and then indeed
more properly, it being occasioned by the request of Zebe-
dee's children, of which James was one. With submission,
M In Bissextil! Anno Nativltatem S. Matt hire Apostoli columns in illi Die, que VI-
friliam ejus proxlme sequitur, non in altrr'i. quae propter Bissextum eo Anno in eodem
Calendario iteratur. Microlog. de Kcrlesiast. Ohservat. c. 47, apud Biblinthec. Patrum,
torn. x. p. 159. Paris. 165*. Luke xxii. 2431.
SECT, xxviii.] THEIR COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS. 253
therefore, I should think, that a more suitable Gospel for the
festival of St. Bartholomew would be John i. 43, to the end,
which is the history of Nathanael's coming to our Saviour, who
is generally allowed to be the same with Bartholomew. The
occasion why that passage in St. Luke was affixed to this day
was a conceit that St. Bartholomew's noble descent was the
occasion of the strife that is there recorded. 88 But if this re-
late to the same dispute which is mentioned by two other of
the evangelists, viz. St. Matthew and St. Mark, it is plain that
it was owing to another cause.
. 9. One day in the year the Church sets apart
to express her thankfulness to God for the many S \nl h n g e e 1 ls and
benefits it hath received by the ministry of holy
angels. And because St. Michael is recorded in Scripture as
an angel of great power and dignity, and as presiding and
watching over the Church of God with a particular vigilance
and application, 69 and triumphing over the devil, 90 it therefore
bears his name.
. 10. The feast of All-Saints is not of very
,. -, .-, ,-vi i A u L it. All-Saints day.
great antiquity in the Church. About the year
of our Lord 610, the pantheon, or temple dedicated to all the
gods, at the desire of Boniface IV., bishop of Rome, was taken
from the heathens by Phocas the emperor, and dedicated to
the honour of all martyrs. Hence came the original of All-
Saints, which was then celebrated upon the first of May : af-
terwards, by an order of Gregory IV., it was removed to the
first of November, A. D. 834, where it hath stood ever since.
And our reformers having laid aside the celebration of a great
many martyrs' days, which had grown too numerous and cum-
bersome to the Church, thought fit to retain this day, where-
on the Church, by a general commemoration, returns her
thanks to God for them all.
.11. The Lessons, Collects, Epistles, and Gos- The j^g^g
pels * for all these and the other holy-days, are Collects, Epis-
eithersuch as bear a particular relation to the tles> and Gospels
subject of the festival, or are at least suitable to the season, as
containing excellent instructions for holy and exemplary lives,
it being (as I have already noted, page 189, &cc.) the design
In all the old Common Prayer Books, the Epistle for the Purification was ordered
to be " the same that was appointed for the Sunday," and the Gospel for the same day
ended in the middle of the twenty-seventh verse of the chapter, whereas now it is con-
tinued to the end of the fortieth.
* Petrus de Natalibus in Catalogo Sanctorum, 1. 7, c. 103. 89 Dan. z. 13.
*> Jude 9. Rev. xii. 7.
254 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAF. n.
of the Church to excite us to emulate those blessed saints, by
setting their examples so often before us. They are most of
them taken from ancient Liturgies, but some were (for good
reasons) altered and changed at the Reformation.*
It would not have been foreign to the design of these sheets,
to have added in this place a short account of the lives of the
Apostles and other saints, commemorated by our Church : but
considering that this is done in several other books already
published, I shall waive the doing it in this, being not willing
to swell the bulk of it with any thing that is better supplied
by other hands. If the reader be as yet destitute of any thing
of this nature, he cannot better provide himself than with the
late learned and most excellent Mr. Nelson's Companion for
the Festivals and Fasts . in which he may not only satisfy his
curiosity as to the remains we have in history concerning
those blessed saints, whose virtues we commemorate ; but he
will also be supplied with proper meditations and devotions
for each day : a book which, next to the Bible and Common
Prayer, and the WTiole Duty of Man, I would heartily re-
commend as the most useful one I know, to all sincere mem-
bers of the Church of England.
CHAPTER VI.
OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE
LORD'S SUPPER,t OR HOLY COMMUNION.
THE INTRODUCTION.
WHATEVER benefits we now enjoy, or hope here-
after to receive from Almighty God, they are all
purchased by the death, and must be obtained
The present Collect for St. Andrew's day wai first inserted in the second book of
king Edward VI. That which was in his first book was this that follows : " Almighty
God, which hast given such grace to thy Apostle St. Andrew, that he counted the sharp
and painful death of the cross to be an high honour and great glory ; grant us to take
and esteem all troubles and adversities which shall come unto us for thy sake, as things
profitable for us towards the obtaining of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
The Collect for the Conversion of St. Paul in all the old books was this : " God, which
hast taught all the world through the preaching of thy blessed Apostle, St. Paul, grant,
we beseech thee, that we, which have his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may
follow and fulfil the holy doctrine that he taught, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
In the Collect for the festival of St. Philip and St. James, after " the way, the truth,
and the life," in the same books followed, "as thou hast taught St. Philip and other
the Apostles, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
t The title of this Office in the first book of king Edward was, " The Supper of the
Lord, and the Holy Communion, commonly called the Mass."
1NTHOD.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 255
through the intercession of the holy JESUS. We are therefore
not only taught to mention his name continually in our pray-
ers ; but are also commanded, by visible signs, to represent
and set forth to his heavenly Father his all-sufficient and me-
ritorious death and sacrifice, as a more powerful way of inter-
ceding and obtaining the divine acceptance. So that what
we more compendiously express in that general conclusion of
our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord, we more fully
and forcibly represent in the celebration of the holy eucharist :
wherein we intercede on earth, in conjunction with the great
intercession of our High Priest in heaven, and plead in the
virtue and merits of the same sacrifice here which he is con-
tinually urging for us there. And because of this near alli-
ance between praying and communicating, we find the eu-
charist was always, in the purest ages of the Church, a daily
part of the Common Prayer. And therefore, though the
shameful neglect of religion with us has made the imitation
of this example to be rather wished for than expected ; yet it
shews us, what excellent reason our Church had to annex so
much of this office to the usual service on all solemn days.
. 2. As to the primitive and original form of
administration, since it does not appear that our formsodminis-
Saviour prescribed any particular method, most tration different
. , ' , , ,.,' \ T . ' . and various.
Churches took the liberty to compose Liturgies
for themselves ; which perhaps being only the forms used by
the founders of each Church, a little altered and enlarged,
were, in honour of those founders, distinguished by their
names. For thus the Liturgies of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and
Rome, have been always called St. James's, St. Mark's, and
St. Clement's. But, however, none of these being received as
of divine institution ; therefore St. Basil and St. Chrysostom,
St. Ambrose and St. Gregory, in after-ages, each of them
composed a Liturgy of their own. And so the excellent com-
pilers of our Common Prayer, following their example, no
otherwise confined themselves to the Liturgies that were be-
fore them, than out of them all to extract an office for them-
selves : and which indeed they performed with so exact a
judgment and happy success, that it is hard to determine whe-
ther they more endeavoured the advancement of devotion, or
the imitation of pure antiquity.
But Bucer being called in (as I have observed elsewhere)
to give his opinion of it, this momentous and principal office
256 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OP [CHAP. TI.
of our Liturgy had the misfortune to suffer very great alter-
ations. Some amendment in the method it might possibly
have borne ; but the practice of foreign churches, and not
primitive Liturgies, being always with him the standard of
reformation, the most ancient forms and primitive rites were
forced to give way to modern fancies. It is true, some of
these were again restored at the last review ; but it is still
much lamented by learned men, that some other additions
were not made at that time, that so every thing might have
been restored which was proper or decent, as well as every
thing left out that was superstitious or offensive.
The communion J- 3- What these particulars are, shall be
office designed shewn hereafter in their proper places. In the
dtere u nt e time a mean time I sha11 here obse r v e, that the office
from morning originally was designed to be distinct, and to be
introduced with the Litany, as I have observed
before, 1 and consequently to be used at a different time from
morning prayer : for in all the Common Prayer Books before
the last, so many as intended to be partakers of the holy
Communion, were to signify their names to the Curate over-
night, or else in the morning before the beginning of morn-
ing prayer or immediately after. The design of which rubric
was partly that the Minister (by this means knowing the
number of his communicants) might the better judge how to
provide the elements of bread and wine sufficient for the
occasion ; but chiefly (as appears from the following rubrics)
that he might have time to inform himself of the parties who
intended to receive, that so if there were any among them not
duly qualified, he might persuade them to abstain of their
own accords ; or, if they obstinately offered themselves, ab-
solutely reject them. Now the rubric supposing, that this
might be done immediately after morning prayer, as well as
before it began, we must necessarily infer, that there was
sufficient time designed to be allowed between the two ser-
vices, for the Curate not only to provide the elements, but
also to confer with and advise his communicants. I know
indeed that Alesse, in his translation of the Liturgy for the
use of Bucer, applies the word after to the beginning of
morning prayer, translating the rubric (though without either
reason or authority) after this manner : Quotquot cupiunt
par ticipes fieri sacra: Communionis, indicabunt nomina sua
> See page* 1C5, 1C6.
SECT. I.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 257
Pastori pridie, aut mane, priusquam inchoentur Matutinee,
vel immediate post principium : which another Latin trans-
lation, published in queen Elizabeth's time, expresses plainer,
vel immediate post principium matutinarum prccum. But
how is it possible that the Curate could either take their
names, or confer with those that came, whilst he was other-
wise employed in reading morning prayers? The words
immediately after, therefore, must plainly refer to the ending
of morning prayers ; after which, those who had not offered
themselves before, were required to come and signify their
names, that so the Curate might know what sort of persons
he should have to communicate with him, before he pro-
ceeded to the Communion Office. This rubric indeed was
altered at the last review ; so that now all that intend to com-
municate are required to signify their names at least some
time the day before. But then the design of this alteration
was not that both offices should be united in one, but that the
Curate might have a more competent time to inquire of, and
consult with, those that offered themselves to communicate. 3
The offices are still as distinct as ever, and ought still to be
read at different times. A custom which bishop Overal says
was observed in his time in York and Chichester ; 3 and the
same practice, Mr. Johnson tells us, prevailed at Canterbury
long since the Restoration, as it did very lately, if it does not
still, at the cathedral of Worcester. 4 It is certain that the
Communion Office still every where retains the old name of
the Second Service ; and bishop Overal, just now mentioned,
imputes it to the negligence of Ministers, and the carelessness
of people, that they are ever huddled together into one office.
SECT. I. Of the Rubrics before the Communion Office.
FROM what has been said just now above, the
design of the first rubric sufficiently appears, viz. ^^i' to^bl
That the Curate, by knowing, at least some time judges of the et-
the day before, the names of all that intend to communicants.
be partakers of the holy Communion, may judge
what quantity of bread and wine will be sufficient, and also
may have time enough to learn, whether those that offer
themselves to the Communion are fit to receive. For,
* See the account of all the Proceedings of the Commissioners, 1661, p. 15, and the
Papers that passed between the Commissioners, p. 129. 3 See Dr. Nichols's addi-
tional Notes, p. S6. * Clergyman's Vade Mecum, p. 12, third edition.
S
258 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
. 2. If any of those be an open or notorious
h!ave^x>wer't nd ev " liver, or have done any wrong to his neigh-
repei scandalous bours by word or deed, so that the congregation
be thereby offended; the Curate, having know-
ledge thereof, shall call him and advertise him, that in any
wise he presume not to come to the Lord's table until he hath
openly declared himself to have truly repented, and amended
his former naughty life, that the congregation may thereby be
satisfied, which before were offended ; and that he hath re-
compensed the parties to whom he hath done wrong, or at least
declare himself to be in full purpose so to do, as soon as he
conveniently may.
The same order shall the Curate use with those between whom
he perceiveth malice and hatred to reign; not suffering them to
be partakers of the Lord's table, until he know them to be re-
conciled. And if any one of the parties so at variance be con-
tent to forgive, from the bottom of his heart, all that the other
hath trespassed against him, and to make amends for that he
himself hath offended ; and the other party will not be persuad-
ed to a godly unity, but remain still in his frowardness and
malice; the Minister in that case ought to admit the penitent
person to the holy Communion, and not him that is obstinate.
Now here we must distinguish between absolutely repelling
and shutting out any one from the Communion, as by a judi-
cial act, and only suspending him for a time, till the Minister
has opportunity to send his case to the Ordinary. The first
of these is what the rubric cannot be understood to imply :
for by the laws of the land, both ecclesiastical and civil, none
are to be shut out from this Sacrament, but such as are noto-
rious delinquents, and none are notorious but such as the sen-
tence of the law hath, either upon their own confession, or
full conviction, declared so to be. And this is conformable
both to the Imperial Edict, and the practice of the Church,
as long ago as St. Austin. The first hath this established law :
" We prohibit all, both bishops and presbyters, from shutting
out any one from the Communion, before some just cause be
shewn for which the holy canons require it to be done." 8
And as to the ancient usage, St. Austin speaks very plain ;
"We cannot," saith he, "repel any man from the Communion,
unless he has freely confessed his offence, or hath been ac-
Norel. 123, e. 11, Collat. 9, Tit. 15, c. 11.
SSCT. i.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 259
cused and convicted in some ecclesiastical consistory or se-
cular court."
But now all this plainly refers to the power of secluding from
the Communion judicially and with authority ; whereas the
design of this rubric is only to enable the Curate to refuse to
administer to any of his congregation (of whose ill life and
behaviour he has received sudden notice) till he can have
opportunity of laying his case before the Ordinary. For by a
clause, added at the last review, it is provided, That every
Minister, so repelling/ any, as is specified in this, or the next
precedent paragraph of this rubric, shall be obliged to give
an account of the same to the Ordinary, tvithin fourteen days
after at the farthest, and the Ordinary is to proceed against
the offending person according to the canon. The hundred
and ninth canon, I suppose, is meant, which requires the Or-
dinary to punish all such notorious offenders by the severity
of the laws, and not to admit them to the Communion till they
be reformed.
But here I know it may be objected, that the persons, whom
the Curate is by this rubric empowered to repel, are declared
to be such as are notorious evil livers, and that I have already
allowed that none are notorious but such as the sentence of
the law has declared so to be. But to this I answer, that no-
toriety in this place is taken in a lower degree ; the rubric
using the words open and notorious for the same thing, and
explaining those to be notorious by whom the congregation is
offended. That it cannot mean those whom the law has de-
clared to be notorious, is plain, because such are supposed to
be already shut out from the Communion, and consequently the
Curate must himself have received notice from his Ordinary
not to admit them : whereas the persons, whom the rubric
provides against, are such as the Ordinary is supposed not yet
to have heard of, whom therefore it requires the Curate to
send him notice of, in order that he may proceed against them
according to law ; and whom, in the mean while, the Curate
is empowered by this rubric (which is itself a law, being
established by the Act of Uniformity} to refuse the Commu-
nion, if, after due admonition to keep away, he obstinately
offers himself to receive : insomuch that no damage from any
prior law can accrue to him from a conscientious execution of
the latter. And that this is no novel or unnecessary power is
plain from the practice of the ancient Church ; in which though
s 2
260 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
all open offenders, as soon as known, were put under censure,
yet if before censure they offered themselves at the Commu-
nion, they were repelled. This is evident from St. Chrysos-
tom, 6 who does not more earnestly press the duty, than he
does plainly assert the authority of the sacerdotal power to
effect it. " Let no Judas," saith he, " no lover of money be
present at this table ; he that is not Christ's disciple, let him
depart from it. Let no inhuman, no cruel person, no un-
compassionate man, or unchaste, come hither. I speak this
to you that administer, as well as to those that partake :
for it is necessary I speak these things to you, that you
may take great care, and use your utmost diligence to dis-
tribute these offerings aright. For no small punishment
hangeth over your heads, if knowing any man to be wicked,
you suffer him to be partaker of this table ; for his blood
shall be required at your hands. Wherefore, if he be a ge-
neral, or a provincial governor, or the emperor himself, that
cometh unworthily, forbid him and keep him off ; thy power
is greater than his. If any such get to the table, reject him
without fear. If thou darest not remove him, tell it me ; I
will not suffer it, I will yield my life rather than the Lord's
body to any unworthy person : and suffer my own blood to be
shed, before I will grant that sacred blood to any but to him
that is worthy."
But here again it has been objected, that " all persons, be-
fore they are admitted into any office, are obliged by our laws
to receive the sacrament as a qualification , and consequently
that the Minister is obliged by the same laws, to admit any
person that offers himself upon this occasion, to the holy
Communion, however unfit he may have rendered himself by
his life and actions." But in answer to this, it must be con-
sidered, that the power which Christ himself invested his
Church with, of admitting persons into her communion, and
excluding them from it, is what no human laws can deprive
her of. And therefore when the laws require men to receive
this holy Sacrament to qualify themselves for offices, they al-
ways suppose that they must first qualify themselves accord-
ing to the holy laws of the Church, which are founded on those
of the Gospel. So that it would be a very great injury to our
legislators (as being a very uncharitable opinion of them) to
imagine, that if an unbaptized, or excommunicate person, a
deist, or notorious sinner, should happen to obtain an office,
* Chrysoat. Horn. fiS, in Matt. zxri.
SECT, i.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 261
that they intend to oblige the Church to admit persons, under
these bad dispositions, to be partakers of the blessed Eucharist.
The primitive Church was so cautious in this respect, that
even persons in the highest stations were rejected, if they of-
fered themselves unworthily. Of which we have a remarkable
instance in the case of the emperor Theodosius, whom St.
Ambrose boldly and openly refused, upon the commission of
a barbarous crime. The story being worth the reader's notice,
I shall therefore give it in a few words. There being a sedition
among the people of Thessalonica, the emperor ordered the
guard to fall on them in heat, who in that hurry and confusion
destroyed several thousands of these poor wretches. Soon
after which, he coming to Milan, was going to offer himself at
St. Ambrose's church to receive the Communion. But the
good bishop (when he heard of it) met him courageously at
the church doors, and obliged him to return, and first repent
himself of his crime. " With what eyes," saith he, " can you
behold the temple of him who is the common Lord of all ?
With what feet can you tread this holy place ? How can you
put out those hands to receive the blessed elements, which are
yet reeking with innocent blood ? How can you take the pre-
cious blood into that mouth, which gave out such barbarous
and bloody orders? Depart therefore, and take heed that you
do not increase your first crime by a second. Submit your-
self to the bond which the Lord of the world has been pleased
to bind you with, which is only medicinal, and intended to
work your cure." 7 This repulse the emperor acquiesced in,
and offered himself no more to those holy rites, till he had in
tears repented of the sad effects of his hasty anger. I have
chosen to give this instance, because it is what the Church of
England has thought fit to record in her Homilies, and to
mention with marks of approbation and applause. 8
. But besides persons excommunicated, and _
, -i i Other persons
those above mentioned, there are other persons, disqualified from
by the laws of our Church, disabled from com- ^^miHw-
municating : such as are of course all schismatics,
to whom no. Minister, when he celebrate th the Communion,
is wittingly to administer the same, under pain of suspension, 9
But of these too, unless they have been legally convicted, the
Minister who repels them is obliged upon complaint, or being
> Theod. Hist. Eccl. 1. 5. In the second part of the Homily of the Right Use of
the Church. Can. 27.
262 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
required by the Ordinary, to signify the cause thereof unto
him, and therein to obey his order and direction. 10 And fur-
ther, by a rubric at the end of the Order of Confirmation,
none are to be admitted to the holy Communion,
^"firmed* C " unt ^ 8UC ^ limc as he be confirmed, or be ready
and desirous to be confirmed. The like provision
is made by our Provincial Constitutions, which allow none to
communicate (unless at the point of death) but such as are
confirmed, or at least have a reasonable impediment for not
being confirmed : u and the Glossary allows no impediment to
be reasonable, but the want of a bishop* near the place. And
and strangers lastly, all strangers from other parishes ; the Min-
from other ister is by the canons 12 required to forbid and
to remit such home to their own parish churches
and ministers, there to receive the Communion rcith the rest
of their neighbours.
. 3. The last rubric concerning the covering
cernmg the situ- an ^ situation of the Communion table, was first
ationoftheCom- added in the second Common Prayer Book of
munion table. , . T,, -, T7T ., . . **, , .
king Ldward VI., there being no other rubric
in his first book than this, The priest, standing humbly afore
the middes of the altar, shall saie the Lord's Prayer, inc.*
For altar was the name by which the holy board was con-
stantly distinguished for the first three hundred years after
Christ ; during all which time it does not appear that it was
above once called table, and that was in a letter of Dionysius
of Alexandria to Xystus of Rome. And when in the fourth
century Athanasius called it a table, he thought himself obliged
to explain the word, and to let the reader know that by table
* In the first book of king Edward also, before this rubric, there was another in-
serted in relation to the habits which the Ministers were to wear at the Communion,
which I have already given in page 99, &c., to which was annexed this that follows,
" Then shall the Clerks sing in English for the Office or Introit (as they call it) a Psalm
appointed for that day." The Introits also I have already spoke to in page 204. Though
I do not know how to reconcile this order for singing it before the Minister begins the
office, with another rubric which stands in the same book immediately after the prayer,
" Almighty God, unto whom all hearts bo open," &c., which orders, " that the Priest
then shall say a Psalm appointed for the Introit : which Psalm ended, the Priest" was
also then "to say, or else the Clerks were to sing, III Lord have mercy upon us,
III Christ have meroy upon us, III Lord have mercy upon us."
Then the Priest standing at God's board was to begin, " Glory be to God on high."
The Clerks, " And in earth peace, good-will towards men : " and so on to the end of
the hymn in our present Post-Communion-offlce.
Then the Priest was to turn him to the people, and say, " The Lord be with you."
Answer. " And with thy spirit."
The Priest. " Let us pray.
And then came the Collect for the day, and one of the Collects for the king.
Con. 27. Prov. Linw. cap. de sacr. Unct. > Can. 28.
SECT, i.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 263
he meant 'altar, that being then the constant and familiar
name. 13 Afterwards indeed both names came to be promiscu-
ously used ; the one having respect to the oblation of the eu-
charist, the other to the participation : but it was always placed
altar-wise in the most sacred part of the Church, and fenced
in with rails to secure it from irreverence and disrespect.
But at the beginning of the Reformation, an unhappy dis-
pute arose, viz. whether those tables of the altar-fashion,
which had been used in the popish times, and on which masses
had been celebrated, should still be continued : this point was
first started by bishop 'Hooper, who, in a sermon before the
king in the fourth year of his reign, declared, " That it would
do well, that it might please the magistrate, to turn altars into
tables, according to the first institution of Christ ; to take
away the false persuasion of the people, which they have of
sacrifice, to be done upon the altars ; for as long (says he) as
altars remain, both the ignorant people and the ignorant and
evil persuaded priest will always dream of sacrifice." u This
occasioned not only a couple of letters from the king and
council, one of which was sent to all the bishops, and the
other to Ridley, bishop of London ; (in both which they were
required to pull down the altars ;) but also that, when the Li-
turgy was reviewed in 1551, the abovesaid rubric was altered,
and in the room of it the present one was inserted, viz. The
table having at the Communion time a fair white linen cloth
upon it, shall stand in the body of the church, or in tlie chan-
cel, where morning and evening prayer are appointed to be
said. And the priest standing at the north side of the table,
shall say tlie Lord's Prayer with the Collect following.
But this did not put an end to the controversy ; another dis-
pute arising, viz. whether the table placed in the room of the
altar ought to stand altar-wise, i. e. in the same place and
situation as the altar formerly stood ? This was the occasion
that in some churches the tables were placed in the middle
of the chancels, in others at the east part thereof next to the
wall; some again placing it endwise, and others placing it at
length. 15 Bishop Ridley endeavoured to compromise this
matter, and therefore, in St. Paul's cathedral, suffered the
table to stand in the place of the old altar ; but beating down
the wainscot partition behind, laid all the choir open to the
13 See all this proved in Mr. Johnson's Unbloody Sacrifice, &c., chap. ii. sect. 3, vol.
i. p. 300, &c. See Heylin's Antidot. Lincoln, page 105. Huggard's Display
of Protestants, p. 81, printed anno 1556, as cited in Heylin's Antidot. Lincoln, p. 50.
264 OP THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CBAP. TI.
east, leaving the table then to stand in the middle of the
chancel, 16 which indeed was more agreeable to the primitive
custom. 17 Under this diversity of usage, things went on till
the death of king Edward ; when queen Mary coming to the
throne, altars were again restored wherever they had been
demolished : but her reign proving short, and queen Elizabeth
succeeding her, the people, (just got free again from the ty-
ranny of popery,) through a mistaken zeal, fell in a tumultuous
manner to the pulling down of altars : though indeed this hap-
pened for the generality only in private churches, they not
being meddled with in any of the queen's palaces, and in but
very few of the cathedrals. And as soon as the queen was
sensible of what had happened in other places, she put out an
injunction 18 to restrain the fury of the people, declaring it to
be no matter of great moment, whether there were altars or
tables, so that the Sacrament mas duly and reverently ad-
ministered ; but ordering, that where an altar was taken down,
a holy table should be decently made, and set in the place
where the altar stood, and there commonly covered as thereto
belonged, and as should be appointed by the visitor, and so to
stand, saving when the communion of the Sacrament was to
be distributed , at which time the same was to be placed in
good sort within the chancel, as tliereby the Minister might
be more conveniently heard of the communicants in his prayer
and ministration, and the communicants also more conveni-
ently and in more number communicate with the said Min-
ister. And after tlie Communion done, from time to time
ttte same holy table was to be placed wltere it stood before.
Now it is plain from this injunction, as well as from the
eighty-second canon of the Church, (which is almost verbatim
the same,) that there is no obligation arising from this rubric
to move the table at the time of the Communion, unless the
people cannot otherwise conveniently hear and communicate.
The injunction declares, that the holy table is to be set in the
same place where the altar stood, which every one knows was
at the east end of the chancel. And when both the injunc-
tion and canon speak of its being moved at the time of the
Communion, it supposes that the Minister could not other-
wise be heard : the interposition of a belfry between the
chancel and body of the church (as I have already observed,
" Act* and Monument*, part ii. p. 700. " See Bingham's Antiquities, 1. 8, c. 6,
(.11. i See the Injunction in Bishop Sparrow'* Collection, p. 84.
SECT. I.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 2G5
p. 108, &c.) hindering the Minister in some churches from
being heard by the people, if he continued in the chancel. So
that we are not under any obligation to move the table, unless
necessity requires. But whenever the churches are built so
as the Minister can be heard, and conveniently administer
the Sacrament at the place where the table usually stands, he
is rather obliged to administer in the chancel, as appears from
the rubric before the Commandments, as also from that before
the Absolution, by both which rubrics the Priest is directed
to turn himself to the people. From whence I argue, that if
the table be in the middle of the church, and the people con-
sequently round about the Minister, the Minister cannot turn
himself to the people any more at one time than another.
Whereas if the table be close to the east wall, the Minister
stands on the north side, and looks southward, and conse-
quently, by looking westward, turns himself to the people.
. 4. Wherever it be placed, the Priest is ob-
liged to stand at the north side, (or end thereof, to 'stanTat^he
as the Scotch Liturgy expresses it ; which also or- ^J 1 slde of the
ders, that it shall stand at the uppermost part
of the chancel or church,} the design of which is, that the
Priest may be the better seen and heard ; which, as our altars
are now placed, he cannot be but at the north or south side.
And therefore the north side being the right hand or upper
side of the altar, is certainly the most proper for the officiating
Priest, that so the assisting Minister (if there be one) may not
be obliged to stand above him. And bishop Beveridge has
shewn that wherever, in the ancient Liturgies, the Minister is
directed to stand before the altar, the north side of it is always
meant. 19
. 5. The covering of the altar with a fair The table to be
white linen cloth, at the time of the celebration covered with a
of the Lord's Supper, was a primitive practice, 20
enjoined at first, and retained ever since for its decency. In
the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, 21 this covering is called
palla altaris, the pall of the altar ; to distinguish it, I suppose,
from the corporis palla, or the cloth that was thrown over the
consecrated elements. And the Scotch Liturgy orders, that
the holy table at ilie Communion time should have a carpet,
and a fair white linen cloth upon it, with other decent furni-
i Bev. Pandect, vol. ii. p. 76, . 15. See also Renaudotius's Liturgies, torn. ii. p.
24. *> Optat. Milev. 1. 6, p. 113. Hieron. in Ep. ad Nepotianum. * l In Ord. Diac.
266 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OP [CHAP. vi.
ture, meet for the high mysteries there to be celebrated. And
by our own canons, 22 at all other times, when divine service is
performed, it is to be covered reith a carpet of silk, or rather
decent stuff, thought meet by the Ordinary of the place, if
any question be made of it ; which was originally designed
for the clean keeping of the said [white linen] cloth .- a though
the chief use of it now is for ornament and decency.
SECT. II. Of the Lord's Prayer.
why used at the THERE can be no fitter beginning for this sacred
beginning of the ordinance, which so peculiarly challengeth Christ
for its author, than that divine prayer which owes
its original to the same person, and which St. Jerome tells us, 34
Christ taught his Apostles, on purpose that they should use it
at the holy Communion. To which the primitive Fathers
thought it so peculiarly adapted, that they generally expounded
that petition, Give us this day our daily bread, of the body of
Christ, the bread of life, which in those times they daily re-
ceived for the nourishment of their souls. 25
SECT. TO.. Of the Collect for Purity.
why used before As tne P e P le were to be purified before the
the Command- first publication of the law, 26 so must we have
clean hearts before we be fit to hear it ; lest, if
our minds be impure sin take occasion by the commandment
to stir up concupiscence : "" for prevention of which, when the
Commandments were added in the second book of king Ed-
ward, it was thought proper that this form should immediately
precede them : not but that the form itself was in our first Li-
turgy, and, as far as appears, in the oldest offices of the West-
ern Church.
SECT. IV. Of the Ten Commandments.
THESE divine precepts of the moral law as much
H wa here. placed oblige Christians as they did the Jews : we vowed
to keep them at our baptism, and we renew that
vow at every Communion : and therefore it is very fit we
should hear them often, and especially at those times when we
are going to make fresh engagements to observe them. Upon
Can. 82. See an order of queen Elizabeth, A. D. 1561, in Heylin's Antidot.
Lincoln, p. 45. ' Hieron. adv. Pelag. 1. 3, c. 5, torn. ii. p. 596, C. * Tert. de
Oral. Dom. c. 6, p. 131, 1). 132, A. Cyprian, in Oral. Dora. p. 146, 147. Exod.
xix. 14. Horn. vii. 8.
SBCT. v.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 267
which account, since we are to confess all our sins before we
come to this blessed Sacrament of pardon, the Church pru-
dently directs the Minister, now standing in the most holy
place, to turn himself to the people,* and from thence, like
another Moses from Mount Sinai, to convey God's laws to
them, by rehearsing distinctly all the Ten Commandments ;
by which, as in a glass, they may discover all their offences,
and, still kneeling, may, of ter every Commandment, ask God
mercy for their transgression thereof (i. e. as the Scotch Li-
turgy expresses it, of every duty therein, either according to
the letter, or to the mystical importance of the said Com-
mandment) for the time past, and grace to keep the same for
the time to come.}
SECT. V. Of the two Collects for the King.
ST. PAUL seems to command that we should
pray for kings in all our prayers: 48 and in the ^ekta? for
primitive Church they always supplicated for their
princes at the time of the celebration of the holy Eucharist; 99
where, by virtue of the sacrifice of Christ's death commemor-
ated, those great requests might be likely to prevail.
. 2. In our Liturgy these prayers do not (as ^y placed next
in the Roman Missal) disturb the prayer of Con- after the Com-
secration, but, as the office is now compiled, are man<Jments -
more conveniently placed here : the king is custos utriusque
tabulce, defender of both tables of the law, and therefore we
properly pray for him just after the Commandments. Nor do
our prayers for him less aptly precede the daily Collect : since
when we have prayed for outward prosperity to the Church,
the consequent of the king's welfare, we may very seasonably
in the Collect pray for inward grace, to make it completely
happy. :f For variety here are two prayers, but they both tend
to the same end, and only differ a little in the form.
SECT. VI. Of the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel.
IT is evident, that long before the dividing the or the Collect,
Bible into chapters and verses, it was the custom
* This direction of " turning to the people " was first added in the Scotch Liturgy.
t These latter words, " for the time past," &c., were added at the last review : though
indeed no part of the rubric, nor of the Commandments themselves, were in the first
book of king Edward VI., nor, as far as I can find, in any ancient Liturgy.
t In all the former Common Prayer Books, except the Scotch, it seems as if the Col-
lect for the day was used before that for the king. For the old rubric was this : " Then
shall follow the Collect for the day, with one of these two Collects following for the king."
28 1 Tim. ij. 1,2. Liturg. S. Jacob. S. Chrys. S. Bas. Vide Euseb. de Vita Con-
stant. 1. 4, c. 45, p. 549.
268 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
both of the Greek and Latin Churches to read some select
portions of the plainest and most practical parts of the New
Testament, first for the Epistle, and then for the Gospel, at
the celebration of the holy Eucharist, 30 in imitation perhaps of
the Jewish mode of reading the history of the Passover before
the eating of the paschal lamb. 31
. 2. As for the antiquity, matter, and suitable-
t 8 ! 16 ne ss of the several Collects, Epistles, and Gos-
pels, I have already spoken at large. I shall on-
ly make this one remark more, that as our Saviour's disciples
roent before his face to every city and place, whither he him-
self mould come ,- 32 so here the Epistle, as the word of the
servant, is read first, that it may be as a harbinger to the Gos-
pel, to which the last place and greatest honour is reserved,
as being the word of their great Master. And for this reason
I suppose it was ordered by the advertisements published in the
seventh year of queen Elizabeth, 33 and by the twenty-fourth
of our present canons, that the principal Minister, at the
celebration of the Communion, should be as-
tpistler and .7-7 xf 7 -ri
Gospeier, why sisted foith a (jrospeler and iLpistler agreea-
bly ; i. e. with one Minister to read the Epistle
and another to read the Gospel, as is still generally the cus-
tom in cathedral churches ; which was also provided for by
the rubrics in king Edward's first book, which orders that the
priest, or he that is appointed, shall read the Epistle in a place
assigned for that purpose, (which from the modern practice
I take to be on the south side of the table ;) and that immedi-
ately after the Epistle ended, the priest, or one appointed,
(which, as appears from the next rubric, might be a deacon,)
shall read the Gospel.
. 3. The custom of saying Glory be to thee, O
Mytag U GoV f be Lord, when the Minister was about to read the
to thee, o Lord, holy Gospel, and of singing Hallelujah, or saying,
tlquuy what " Thanks be to God for his holy Gospel, when he
had concluded it, is as old as St. Chrysostom j 34
but we have no authority for it in our present Liturgy. The
first indeed was enjoined by king Edward's first Common
Prayer Book, and so the custom has continued ever since ;
and I do not find how it came to be left out of the rubric after-
wards. It certainly could have nothing objected against it,
and therefore it is restored in the Scotch Liturgy ; which also
*> Just. Mart. Ap. I. Clem. Const. Apost. lib. 2, c. 56, 57. " Buxtorf. Lex. Chald.
*> Luke x. 1. "In BUhop Sparrow's Collection, page 124, 125. Liturg. 8. Chrys.
SECT, vii.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 269
ordered, that, when the Presbyter shall say, So endeth the
holy Gospel, the people shall answer, Thanks be to thee, O
Lord. In our own Common Prayer Book the Priest has no
direction to say, The Gospel is ended ; the reason of which
some imagine to be, because it is still continued in the Creed
that followeth.
. 4. In St. Augustine's time the people always standing up at
stood when the Lessons were read, to shew their the Gospel, why
reverence to God's holy word : 35 but afterwards, C(
when this was thought too great a burden, they were allowed
to sit down at the Lessons, and were only obliged to stand
(as our present order, which was first inserted in the Scotch
Common Prayer Book, now enjoins us) at the reading of the
Gospel, 38 which always contains something that our Lord
did, spoke, or suffered in his own person. By which gesture
they shewed they had a greater respect to the Son of God
himself, than they had to any other inspired person, though
speaking the word of God, and by God's authority.
SECT. VII. Of the Nicene Creed.
As the Apostles' Creed is placed immediately why placed after
after the daily Lessons, so is this after the Epis- the Epistle and
tie and Gospel : both of them being founded GospeL
upon the doctrine of Christ and his Apostles. As therefore
in the foregoing portions of Scripture we believe with our heart
to righteousness, so in the Creed that follows, we confess with
our mouth to salvation.
S. 2. This is commonly called the Nicene .
X-Y? i- / XL L ii_/^j An account of it.
Creed, as being, for the greatest part, the Creed
that was drawn up by the first general Council of Nice, in the
year 325, but enlarged by a fuller explication of some articles
about the year 381, especially in relation to the divinity and
procession of the Holy Ghost, in order to a more particular
confutation and suppression of the Arian and Macedonian
heresy. For which reason it was enjoined by the third Coun-
cil of Toledo to be recited by all the people in Spain before
the Sacrament, to shew that they were all free from heresy,
and in the strictest league of union with the catholic Church. 37
And since in this sacrament we are to renew our baptismal
vow, (one branch of which was, that we would believe all the
35 Augustin. Serm. 300, in Append, ad torn. v. col. 504, B. 38 Const. Ap. 1. 2, c. 56.
Niceph. 1. 9, c. 18. Isid. Pelus. 1. 1, Ep. 136. Soz. 1. 7, c. 19. Can. 2, torn. v. col.
1009, E.
270 OP THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
Articles of the Christian faith,} it is very requisite that, be-
fore we be admitted, we should declare that we stand firm in
the belief of those articles.
SECT. VIII. Of the Rubric after the Nicene Creed.
AFTER the Creed follows a rubric of directions,
* t 2SS?* instructing the Priest what he is to publish, or
make known to the people. I do not find any
such rubric in the first Common Prayer Book of king Edward
VI. ; and in all the rest, quite down to the Restoration, a de-
claration of the holy-days only was ordered to be made after
the Sermon or Homily was ended.
why the Curate 2 - This * 8 tne ^ rst tmn g our rubric men-
is to bid holy- tions now, viz. that the Curate shall declare
unto the people rvhat holy -days or fasting -days
are in the meek following to be observed. The first reason
of which was, lest the people should observe any such days
as had been formerly kept, but were laid aside at the Reforma-
tion : and therefore the Bishops inquired in their visitations,
nliether any of their Curates bid any other days than mere
appointed by the new calendar?* This danger is now pretty
well over ; there being no great fear of the people's observing
superstitious holy-days. But there is still as much reason for
keeping up the rubric, since now they are run into a contrary
extreme, and, instead of observing too many holy-days, regard
none ; which makes it fit that the Curate should discharge his
duty, by telling them beforehand, what holy-days will happen,
and then leaving it upon his people to answer for the neglect,
if they are passed over without due regard.
when to give ^ -^ nd t ^ ien a ^ so Of occasion be} shall
notice of the notice be given of the. Communion: though by
rammon. another rubric, just before the first exhortation,
this is supposed to be done after sermon. For there it is or-
dered, that when the Minister giveth warning for the celebra-
tion of the holy Communion, (which he shall always do upon
the Sunday, or some holy -day immediately preceding,} after the
Sermon or Homily ended, he shall read the exhortation follow-
ing. The occasion of this difference was the placing of this
rubric of directions, at the last review, before the rubric con-
cerning the Sermon or Homily. For by all the old Common
Prayer Books, immediately after the Nicene Creed, the Sermon
* Archbishop Grindal, Art. VIII., 1576, for the whole province.
ECT. ix.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 271
was ordered ; and then after that the Curate was to declare
unto the people, whether there were any holy-days or fasting-
days in the week following, and earnestly to exhort them to
remember the poor, by reading one or more of the sentences,
as he thought most convenient by his discretion. This was the
whole of that rubric then. All the remaining part was added
at the Restoration, as was also the rubric above cited just be-
fore the exhortation. Now it is plain by that rubric, that the
warning to the Communion was intended to be given after the
Sermon ; and therefore I should have imagined that there was
no design to have changed the places of the two rubrics here,
but only to have added some other directions concerning the
proclaiming or publishing things in the church : and that con-
sequently the placing of them in the order they now stand, might
have been owing to the printer's, or some other mistake ; but
that I observe in the next rubric the priest is ordered to re-
turn to the Lord's table, which supposes that he has been in
the pulpit since he was at the table before ; and therefore in-
clines me to believe that the rubrics were transposed with
design ; and that the intent of the revisers was, that when
there was nothing in the Sermon itself preparatory to the
Communion, both this and the other rubric should be com-
plied with, viz. by giving warning in this place, that there
will be a Communion on such a day, and then reading the
exhortation after Sermon is ended.
. 4. At this time also briefs, citations, and ex- ^^ thln to
communications are to be read. But nothing is to be published, and
be proclaimed or published in the church, during w
the time of divine service, but by the Minister : nor by him any
thing but what is prescribed in the rules of the Common Prayer
Book, or enjoined by the King, or by the Ordinary of the place.
All this was undoubtedly added, to prevent the custom, that
still too much prevails in some country churches, of publish-
ing the most frivolous, unbefitting, and even ridiculous things
in the face of the congregation.
SECT. IX. Of the Sermon.
SERMONS have been appointed from the be-
ginning of Christianity, 39 to be used upon all ST
Sundays and holy-days, but especially when the
59 Const. Ap. 1. 8, c. 5. Augustin. de Civ. Dei, 1. 22, c. 8. Concil. VasenSe 1, Can.
9, torn. iii. col. 1459, A. Concil. 6, Constant. Can. 19, torn. vi. col. 1151, C.
272 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
Lord's Supper was to be administered. For by a pious and
practical discourse suited to the holy Communion, the minds
of the hearers are put into a devout frame, and made much
fitter for the succeeding mysteries.
Formerly per- ^' This province indeed, in ancient times,
formed by bi- was generally undertaken by the bishops, who at
first voluntarily, and afterwards by injunction,
preached every Sunday, unless hindered by sickness : * but
however, in the absence of the bishop, this duty was perform-
ed by presbyters, and by his permission in his presence. 41
. 3. The reason of its being ordered here, is
^eref M because the first design of them was to explain
some part of the foregoing Epistle and Gospel/ 2
in imitation of that practice of the Jews mentioned in Nehe-
miah viii. 8. For which reason they were formerly called
Postillis, (quasi post ilia, sc. Evangelia^) because they fol-
lowed the Gospel.
8. 4. The Homilies mentioned in the rubric,
Of the Homilies. > i i ,. i // i
are two books of plain sermons, (tor so the word
signifies,) set out by public authority, one whereof is to be
read upon any Sunday or holy-day, when there is no sermon.
The first volume of them was set out in the beginning of king
Edward VI. 's reign, having been composed (as it is thought)
by archbishop Cranmer, bishop Ridley, and Latimer, at the
beginning of the Reformation, when a competent number of
Ministers, of sufficient abilities to preach in a public congre-
gation, was not to be found. The second volume was set out
in queen Elizabeth's time, by order of Convocation, A. D.
1563. And that this is not at all contrary to the practice of
the ancient Church, is evident from the testimony of Sixtus
Sinensis, who, in the fourth book of his Library, saith, " That
our countryman Alcuinus collected and reduced into order,
by the command of Charles the Great, the homilies of the
most famous doctors of the Church upon the Gospels, which
were read in churches all the year round." He says they
were all in number 209 : but where that work lies hid, is not
known.
Bidding of pray- 5 - ! designed in this place to have added a
en enjoined by paragraph concerning the form of Bidding of
Prayers, which the Church enjoins, by the fifty-
Ciin. 19, Troll. Mogun.cap. 25. ' Possid. in Vit. Auguit. Vid. Augut.
Sennonei de Temp.
SECT, x.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 273
fifth canon, to be used by every Minister before his Sermon,
Lecture, or Homily : and from thence to have taken occa-
sion to have hinted at the irregularity and ill consequences of
the Petitionary Form, which is now the general practice. But
rinding it necessary to be more particular than I at first fore-
saw, if I proposed to give any tolerable satisfaction ; the design
immediately swelled into too large a compass to be inserted in
a work of so general a nature. For this reason I have chosen
to publish it in a little treatise by itself: by which means too
I hope it will be more known, than if it had only been treated
of in a few pages here. For the sake of those who may be
desirous to look into the question, I have inserted the title at
the bottom of the page, 43 not without hopes that my sincere
endeavours may contribute a little to put a stop to the custom
of praying in the pulpit, which the reader will there see has
once been attended with fatal consequences, and which has
been discountenanced and prohibited almost in every reign,
since the Reformation, by our governors and superiors both in
Church and State.
SECT. X. Of the Offertory, or Sentences, and the Rubrics that follow.
AFTER the confession of our faith in the Ni-
cene Creed, or else after the improvement of it n^^yTuty.
in the Sermon or Homily, follows the exercise of
our charity, without which our faith mould be dead.^ The
first way of expressing which, is by dedicating some part of
what God has given us to his use and service, which is fre-
quently and strictly commanded in the Gospel, hath the best
examples for it, and the largest rewards promised to it ; being
instead of all the vast oblations and costly sacrifices which the
Jews did always join with their prayers, and the only charge-
able duty to which Christians are obliged. It is, in a word,
so necessary to recommend our prayers, that St. Paul pre-
scribes, 45 and the ancient Church, in Justin Martyr's time,
used to have collections every Sunday. 46
However, when we receive the Sacrament, it is by no means
Bidding of Prayer before Sermon, no mark of disaffection to the present govern-
ment : or, an historical vindication of the fifty-fifth canon. Shewing that the form of
Bidding Prayers has been prescribed and enjoined ever since the Reformation, and
constantly practised by the greatest divines of our Church ; and that it has been lately
enforced both by his present Majesty, and our right reverend diocesan the lord bishop
of London. By Charles Wheatly, M. A., Lecturer of Saint Mildred's in the Poultry.
T.ondon : printed for A. Bettesworth, at the Red Lion, and M. Smith, at Bishop Beve-
ridge'g Head in Pater-noster Row. Price It. James ii. 17. ** 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2.
Just. Martyr. Apol. 1, c. 88, p. 132.
T
274 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
to be omitted. When the Jews came before the Lord at the
solemn feasts, they mere not allowed to appear empty , but
every man mas required to give as he was able, according to
the blessing of tJie Lord, which he had given him." And our
Saviour (with respect, no doubt, to the holy table, as Mr.
Mede excellently proves 4 ") supposes that we should never
come to the altar without a gift?* but always imitate his prac-
tice, whose custom of giving alms at the passover made his
disciples mistake his words to him that bare the bag. 80 And
it is very probable that at the time of receiving the Sacrament
were all those large donations of houses, lands, and money
made. 51 For when those first converts were all united to
Christ and one another in this feast of love, their very souls
were mingled ; they cheerfully renounced their property, and
easily distributed their goods among those to whom they had
given their hearts before. None (of ability) were allowed to
receive without giving something ; 62 and to reject any man's
offering, was to deny him a share in the benefit of those com-
fortable mysteries. 83
. 2. Wherefore, to stir us up more effectually
Th< sent<Sces the * instate their pious example, as soon as the
Sermon or Homily is ended, the Priest is direct-
ed to return to the Lord's Table, and begin the Offertory,
saying one or more of the sentences following, as he thinketh
most convenient in his discretion, i. e. according to the length
or shortness of the time that the people are offering, as it was
worded in king Edward's first Common Prayer, and from
thence in the Scotch one.* These are in the place of the an-
tiphona or anthem which we find in the old Liturgies after
the Gospel, and which, from their being sung whilst the peo-
ple made their oblations at the altar, were called
why <^ted ofler- offertory.'* The sentences which our Church
has here selected for that purpose are such as
contain instructions, injunctions, and exhortations to this
great duty ; setting before us the necessity of performing it,
* In the Scotch Liturgy. Matt. v. 16. Matt. vii. 12. Luke xix. 8. Cal.it. vi. 10. 1 Tim.
v i. 7. 1 John iii. 1 7. with all that follows in our book, are omitted : and Gen. iv. 3, to the
middle of the Sth verse, Exod. xxv. 2. Deut. xvl. 16, 17. 1 Chron. xxix. 10, 11, and part
of the 12th, Hth, and the 17th verses; Psalm xcvi. 8. Matt. xii. 41,42,43, 44, are added.
Deut. xvi. 16, 17. Mr. Mede of the Altar or holy Table, sect. 2, p. 390.
Matt. v. 23, 24. John "xiii. 29. " Acts ii. 44, 45, 46. Cyprian, de Oper.
et Elcemos. p. 203, &c. M Concil. Elib. Can. 28, torn. i. col. 973, E. Concil. Carthag.
4, Can. 93, 94, torn. ii. col. 1207, B. * Vide Menard. in Greg. Sacrament, p. 582, Pa-
ris. 1642. Vide et Mabilion de Liturgia Gallicana, p. 8, Paris. 1685.
SECT, x.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 275
and the manner of doing it. Some of them (viz. those from
the sixth to the tenth inclusively, unless the ninth be except-
ed) respect the clergy. And it was with an eye, Ahng and other
I suppose, to this difference, that in the last re- devotions, how
view there was a distinction made in the rubric d 181 ' 11 ^" 811 ^-
that follows these sentences, between the alms for the poor,
and the other devotions of the people. In the old Common
Prayer there was only mention made of the latter of these,
viz. the devotions of the people, by which alms for the poor
were then meant, as appears from its being then ordered to
be put into the poor man's box. But then the clergy were
included in other words, which ordered, that upon the offer-
ing-days appointed, every man and woman should pay to the
Curate the due and accustomed offerings. But of this I
shall have occasion to say more, when I come to treat of the
rubrics at the end of this office. I shall only observe further
here, that the words alms for the poor being added at the
last review, by which undoubtedly must be understood all
that is given for their relief ; it is plain, that by the other de-
votions of the people is now intended something distinct from
the said alms. And if so, then the offerings for the clergy, or
their share in the collections, must certainly be meant, as is
plain from the design of the above-mentioned sentences, which
have a direct and immediate regard to them. It is well known,
that in the primitive times the clergy had a liberal mainten-
ance out of what the people offered upon these occasions. 55
Now, indeed, whilst they have a stated and legal income, the
money collected at these times is generally appropriated to the
poor : not but that where the stated income of a parish is not
sufficient to maintain the clergy belonging to the Church,
they have still a right to claim their share in these offerings.
II. Whilst these sentences are in reading,
the deacons, church-mar dens, or other fit per- By roUected. be
sons, are to receive the alms for the poor, and
other devotions of the people. 66 The deacons are the most
proper persons for this business, it being the very office for
which their order was instituted. 57 And for this reason the
Scotch Liturgy does not allow the church-
wardens to do it, but at such times when tliere
are no deacons present.* It is now indeed grown
* Whilst the presbyter distinctly pronounceth some or all of these sentences for the
K Cypr. Ep. 34, 36. Rubric after the Sentences. * Acts vi.
T 2
276 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. TI.
a custom with us for the church-wardens to perform this office,
viz. to gather the alms and devotions of the congregation,
which, by all the books before the Scotch Liturgy, they were
ordered, as I have observed, to put into the poor mans box ;
not, I presume, into that fixed in the church, but into a little
box which the church-wardens or some other proper persons
carried about with them in their hands, as is still the custom
at the Temple church in London. Now indeed they are or-
dered to make use of a decent basin to be provided by the
priest for that purpose. With which, in most places, espe-
cially here in town, they go to the several seats and pews of
the congregation. Though in other places they collect at the
entrance into the chancel, where the people make their offer-
ings as they draw towards the altar. This last way seems the
most conformable to the practice of the primitive Church, which,
in pursuance of a text delivered by our Saviour, 58 ordered that
the people should come up to the rails of the altar, and there
make their offerings to the priest. 69
And with an eye, I suppose, to this practice, the deacons,
or church-wardens, or whosoever they be that collect the
alms and other devotions of the people, are ordered by the
present rubric to bring it reverently to the priest (as in their
name) mho is humbly to present and place it upon the holy
table,-* in conformity to the practice of the ancient Jews,
who, when they brought their gifts and sacrifices to the
temple, offered them to God by the hands of the priest.
III. *And if there be a Communion, the priest
w^ne^wheifand ** ^ ien a ^ so to P^ ace upon t/ie table so much
by whom to be bread and wine as he shall think sufficient.
ubie ed n the Which rubric being added to our own Liturgy
at the same time with the word oblations, in
the prayer following, (i. e. at the last review,) it is clearly
evident, as bishop Patrick has observed, 60 that by that word
are to be understood the elements of bread and wine, which
the priest is to offer solemnly to God, as an acknowledgment
of his sovereignty over his creatures, and that from thence-
offertory, the deacon, or (if no such be present) one of the church-warden*, shall receive
the devotions of the people there present in a basin provided for that purpose. Scotch
Liturgy.
In the Scotch Liturfry, " And when all have offered, he shall reverently brinp the
basin with the oblations therein, and deliver it to the presbyter, who shall humbly
present it before the Lord, and set it upon the holy table."
Matt. r. 23. M Greg. Naz. in Laud. Basilil, Orat. 20, torn. i. Theodoret. de
Theodosio. * Christian Sacrifice, p. 77.
SECT, x.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 277
forth they might become properly and peculiarly his. For in
all the Jewish sacrifices, of which the people were partakers,
the viands or materials of the feast were first made God's by
a solemn oblation, and then afterwards eaten by the commu-
nicants, not as man's, but as God's provision ; who, by thus
entertaining them at his own table, declared himself recon-
ciled and again in covenant with them. And therefore our
blessed Saviour, when he instituted the new sacrifice of his
own body and blood, first gave thanks and blessed the ele-
ments, i. e. offered them up to God as Lord of the creatures,
as the most ancient Fathers expound that passage : who, for
that reason, whenever they celebrated the holy eucharist,
always offered the bread and wine for the Communion to
God, upon the altar, by this, or some such short ejaculation,
Lord, rve offer thee thy own, out of what thou hast boun-
tifully given us. 61 After which they received them, as it were,
from him again, in order to convert them into the sacred
banquet of the body and blood of his dear Son. 62 In the an-
cient Church, they had generally a side-table near the altar,
upon which the elements were laid till the first part of the
Communion service was over, at which the catechumens were
allowed to be present ; but when they were gone, the ele-
ments were removed and placed upon the holy altar itself,
with a solemn prayer. 63 Now though we have no side-table
authorized by our Church, yet in the first Common Prayer of
king Edward VI. the priest himself was ordered in this place
to set both the bread and wine upon the altar :* but at the
review in 1551, this and several other such ancient usages
were thrown out, I suppose, at the instance of Bucer and
Martyr. After which the Scotch Liturgy was the first where-
in we find it restored : but there the presbyter is directed to
offer up and place the bread and wine prepared for the Sacra-
ment upon the Lord's table, that it may be ready for that service.
And Mr. Mede, having observed our own Liturgy to be de-
fective in this particular, 64 was probably the occasion, that, in
The whole rubric in king Edward's first book was this : " Then shall the Minister
take so much bread and wine as shall suffice for the persons appointed to receive the
holy Communion, laying the bread upon the corporas, or else in the paten, or in some
other comely thing prepared for that purpose : and putting the wine into the chalice, or
else in some fair and convenient cup, prepared for that use, (if the chalice will not serve,)
putting thereto a little pure and clean water ; and setting both the bread and wine
upon the altar," &c.
' See St. Chrysostom's and other Liturgies. M See this proved in Mr. Mede's
Christian Sacrifice, c. 8, p. 372, &c. Lit. Chrys. Mr. Mede, as above, p. 375, 376.
278 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. TI.
the review of it after the Restoration, this primitive practice
was restored, and the bread and wine ordered by the rubric to
be set solemnly upon the table by the Priest himself. From
whence it appears, that the placing the elements upon the
Lord's table, before the beginning of morning prayer, by the
hands of a clerk or sexton, (as is now the general practice,)
is a profane and shameful breach of the aforesaid rubric ; and
consequently that it is the duty of every Minister to prevent
it for the future, and reverently to place the bread and wine
himself upon the table, immediately after he has placed on
the alms.
Mixing water ^ ^ n ^e rubric I have given, out of king
with the wine, a Edward's first Liturgy, the Minister, when he
UceTbu^not^s- P ut ^e wine into the chalice, was directed by the
sentiai to the rubric to put thereto a little pure and clean rva-
Sacrament. mi_- J J ' f '^
ter. Ihis was ordered m conformity to a very
ancient and primitive practice, and with an eye perhaps to our
Saviour's institution. For the wine among the Jews being
very strong, it was generally their custom, as at their ordinary
meals, so also at the passover, to qualify it with water : M and
therefore, since the cup which our Saviour blessed was proba-
bly one of those which were prepared for that feast, 66 some
have concluded that, at the time of the institution, he made
use of wine in which water had been mixed. But of this they
can produce no certainty of proof. For though it is allowed
that the Jews often mingled their wine, yet it does not appear
that they always did so, or thought it necessary. For Dr.
Lightfoot observes, that he that drank pure mine performed
his duty ,- 67 and Buxtorf adds further, that it was indifferent
whether it was mixed or not, and that they drank it sometimes
one way and sometimes the other : 63 so that we must not af-
firm that our Saviour's cup was certainly mixed, before we are
assured whether the wine which he had prepared for his last
passover was so. Our Saviour intimates, that what he had
delivered to his Apostles was the fruit of the vine ; fi8 and Dr.
Lightfoot observes, from the Babylonish Talmud, that this was
a term which the Jews used in their blessing for wine mixed
with water, to distinguish it from pure wine, which they called
* R. Ob. de Bartenora, et Maimonides in Mishnam, de Benedict, cap. 7, sect. 5.
Dr. Light foot's Temple-Service, vol. i. p. 966, and bishop Hooper of Lent, part 2,
chap. 3. *> Lightfoot. ut supra, p. 691. et Hor. Hebr. in Matt. xxvi. 27, vol. ii. p. 160.
De Pritnae Coens Ritibus et Forma, sect. 20, as cited by Mr. Drake in his Latin Ser-
mon. Matt. xxvi. 29.
SECT, x.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 279
the fruit of the tree." 10 But now, not to insist upon the ab-
surdity of calling it the fruit of the vine, from its being mixed
with water, which makes it less the fruit of the vine than it
was in its purity ; it is plain that this expression, wherever we
meet with it in other places of Scripture, is used to denote the
pure product of the tree. 71 From whence we may be assured,
that in the time of our Saviour, no such distinction as this had
obtained : nor indeed does the Mishna itself allow of it : for
the determination of the wise men is, that wine is to be called
the fruit of the vine, as well before the mixture as after it. 72
And the reason why they give it a particular blessing, calling
it the fruit of the vine, instead of the fruit of the tree, is not
upon the account of its being mixed with water, but because
the vine is more excellent than any tree besides. 73 And if this
distinction fail, I do not know that there is so much as a hint
given in Scripture, from whence we may judge whether the
wine used by our Saviour was mixed or not ; which yet we
might reasonably expect to have found, if our Lord had de-
signed the mixture as essential. Though were it ever so clear,
that the cup was mixed ; yet if it does not also appear that it
was mixed with design, our Saviour's practice would no more
oblige us to mix it now, than it would that we should conse-
crate unleavened bread. For it is certain that our Saviour, at
the time of institution, used unleavened bread : 74 and yet since
the reason of his doing so was, because there was no other at
that time in the house ; our Church thinks it sufficient, in her
present rubric, to prescribe such bread as is usual to be eaten.
Consequently since he made use of wine that was mixed, only
because he found it ready prepared, or at most because the
strength of the wine used in that country required it ; there-
fore our Church thinks it not necessary to mix it with us, be-
cause we ordinarily drink it pure. But I say this upon sup-
position that it could be clearly proved that the cup which our
Saviour used was mixed ; whereas I have shewn that there is
no intimation in Scripture about it. Nor do any of the first
Fathers assert or mention it. Origen (who is the first that
speaks either one way or the other) says, that our Saviour
administered in wine unmixed, 75 which he would not sure have
70 Hor. Hebr. ut supra. n Isa. xxxii. 12. Hab. iii. l'7. Zech. viii. 12. serumlum
1XX. Mark xii. 2. Luke xx. 10. Vide et Vorstium de Hebraismis N. T. c. 23.
75 Tract. de Benedict, cap. 7, sect. 5, vid. et R. Ob. de Bartenora, ac Maimon. in locum.
Ibid. cap. 6, vide et Surenhus. et R. Ob. de Bart, in locum. ' Exod. xii. 15, 19.
Matt. xxvi. 17. Mark xvi. 12. Luke xxii. 7. 7i Horn. 12, in Hieremiam.
280 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [ vi.
done, had there been any certain tradition, or so much as a
general opinion, to the contrary. We do not indeed deny, but
that, before his time, the mixture was the general practice of
the Church : 76 but then it is no where said, that this was done
in conformity to our Saviour's institution ; but since the same
wine, perhaps, that was prepared for the Communion, served
also for the love-feasts, (which, in the first ages of the Church,
were always held at the same time, 77 ) water might be mixed
with it, for what we know, to prevent those disorders, which,
even in the Apostles' time, were apt to arise from their drink-
ing of it to excess : 78 or possibly it might be instituted as an
emblem of the indissoluble union between Christ and his
Church, as St. Cyprian explains it ; ~' 9 or, lastly, (as is asserted
by some other of the ancients,) to be more expressive and sig-
nificant of that blood and water which flowed from our Sa-
viour's side, when he was pierced upon the cross. 80 St. Cy-
prian indeed pleads strenuously for the mixture, and urges it
from the practice and example of our Lord ; 81 but then it is to
be observed, that he is arguing against those who used water
alone, (for fear the heathens should discover them by the
smell of the wine,) and therefore might insist upon the mix-
ture as necessary, because otherwise the wine was the part
that was wanting ; which he plainly enough allows to be the
only essential in the cup, when he asserts that wine alone
would be better than pure water. 82 For if both of them were
essential, neither of them could be said to be better than the
other. And for the same reason it is, that some other Fathers
and Councils enjoin the mixture so strictly, viz. because the
Encratites and others, who looked upon wine and flesh to be
forbidden, would administer the cup in the sacrament of the
eucharist, with pure water alone. 83 Though it is true the
Armenians, who administered in pure wine alone, are equally
condemned by the Council in Trullo, 81 who produce the au-
thority of St. James's and St. Basil's Liturgies against them :
to which may be added, the Liturgies under the name of St.
* Just. Mart. Apol. 1, cap. 85, p. 125, 128. Iren. 1. 4, cap. 57, p. 357, et 1. 5, cap. 2, p.
307. Clem. Alex. Ptedag. 1. 2, cap. 2. " 1 Cor. xl. Jude 12. Ignat. ad Smyrn. . 8.
65. Clem. Alex. Freda*. 1. 2, cap. 1. Tertull. Apol. cap. 39. Const. Ap. 1. 2, cap. 28.
1 Cor. xl. Ad Cecil. Ep. 63, p. 148, &c. * Ambrou. de Sacr. 1. 5, cap. 1.
Gennad. de Eccles. Dogm. c. 75. Theophylact. in Johan. xix. 34. Martin Bracar.
Collect. Canon, cap. 55. "' Cypr. ut supra. M Sacramentum re! illius admonere et
initruere no* debet, ut in sacriflciii Dominlcls VInum POTIUS ofleramua. Ibid.
"* Epiphan. Haer. 46, torn. i. p. 392. Aug. de Hn?res. cap. 64. Theodoret.de Fabulii
Hareticor. 1. 1, c. 20, tom. 4, p. 208. M Can. 32, torn. 6, col. 1156, 1157.
SECT. XI.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 281
Mark and St. Chrysostom, and that which is contained in the
eighth book of the Constitution. 85 And indeed it must be
confessed, that the mixture has, in all ages, been the general
practice, and for that reason was enjoined, as has been noted
above, to be continued in our own Church, by the first re-
formers. And though in the next review the order for it was
omitted, yet the practice of it was continued in the king's
chapel royal, all the time that bishop Andrews was dean of
it ; 86 who also in the form that he drew up for the consecration
of a church, &c., expressly directs and orders it to be used. 87
How it came to be neglected in the review of our Liturgy in
king Edward's reign, I have not yet been able to discover. I
am apt to suspect that it was thrown out upon some objection
of Calvin or Bucer, who were no friends to any practice for
its being ancient and catholic, if it did not happen to suit with
their fancy or humour. But whatever may have been the
cause of laying it aside, since there is no reason to believe it
essential ; and since every Church has liberty to determine
for herself in things not essential ; it must be an argument
sure of a very indiscreet and over-hasty zeal, to urge the
omission of it as a ground for separation.
SECT. XI. Of the Prayer for the whole State of Christ's Church.
THE alms, and devotions, and oblations of the
people being now presented to God, and placed H u^dhe P re riy
before him upon the holy table ; it is a proper
time to proceed to the exercise of another branch of our
charity, I mean that of intercession. Our alms perhaps are
confined to a few indigent neighbours ; but our prayers may
extend to all mankind, by recommending them all to the
mercies of God, who is able to supply and relieve them all.
Nor can we at any time hope to intercede more effectually for
the whole Church of God, than just when we are about to
represent and shew forth to the divine Majesty that meritori-
ous sacrifice, by virtue whereof our great High Priest did
once redeem us, and for ever continues to intercede for us in
heaven. For which reason we find that the ancient and
primitive Christians, whenever they celebrated these holy
mysteries, used a form of intercession for the whole catholic
* Cap. 12. ** See the primitive Rule of Reformation, according to the first Li-
turgy of king Edward VI., page 20, printed in quarto, 1688. 8: Sparrow's Collection,
395, 396.
282 OP THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
Church." But there is this difference between our practice
and theirs, that whereas we use it immediately after the placing
the elements upon the table ; it is in all the ancient Litur-
gies, except in St. Mark's and the Ethiopian, deferred till
after the consecration.
_ , S. 2. In the primitive Church too their prayers
Prayers for the ji.i-.xuj
dead an ancient were more extensive, and took in the dead as
p^ct c ice h lic wel1 as the l' vin g : not tnat tne y hcicl any notion
of the Romish purgatory, or so much as imagined
that those whom they prayed for were racked or tormented
with any temporary pain. There were some of the ancients,
it is true, who believed (and it seems to have been the cur-
rent opinion from Origen downwards) that the trial we shall
undergo at the last great day will be a state of purgation ;
which they imagined to consist of a probational fire, through
which all must pass, (even the prophets and apostles, and the
Virgin Mary herself not excepted,) and which shall differently
affect us, as we shall be differently prepared : 89 and upon this
perhaps some of them might found the prayers they used for
the departed saints. Others again believed that Christ should
reign a thousand years upon earth, before the final day of
judgment ; and also supposed that the saints should rise to
enjoy and partake of this happy state, before the general re-
surrection of the dead: 90 and therefore they prayed for the
souls of the deceased, that they might not only rest in peace
for the present, but also obtain part in the first resurrection."
However they all agreed in this, that the interval between
death and the end of the world is a state of expectation and
imperfect bliss, in which the souls of the righteous wait for
the completion and perfection of their happiness at the con-
summation of all things : and therefore, whilst they were
praying for the catholic Church, they thought it not improper
* Chrys. Liturg. et Horn. 52, in Eustath. et Horn. 26, in Mat. et Horn. 37, in Act. et
de Sacerdot. 1. 6, c. 4. Cyril. Catech. MysUg. 5, n. 6. Const. A post. 1. 8, c. 12.
Origen. in Exod.xv. Horn. 6, et in Psalm xxxvi. Horn. 3. Lactant. lust it-it. 1. 7,
c. 21, p. 653. Basil, in Isa. IT. 4, torn. i. p. 932. Greg. Nyss. de Mortuis Oral. torn.
lii. p. 638. Greg. Naz. Oral. 39, torn. i. p. 636. Ambros. Enarrat. in Psalm xxxvi.
}. 26, torn. i. col. 789, 790, et in Psalm cxviii. Si-rni. 3, . 14 17, torn. i. col. 997, 998,
et Si-rni. 20, col. 1225, 1226, edit. Benedict. Paris. 1686. Hieron. in Mai. iii. torn. iii.
col. 1825, et 1. 1, adv. Pelag. torn. iv. col. 502, edit. Benedict. Paris. 1704. Aug. Re-
ipons. ad Quest. 1. Dulcit. torn. vi. col. 121, 126, 128, et Enchirid. de Fide, Spe, et
Charitate, cap. 67,68, 69, in torn. eod. col. 221, 222, et de Civ. Dei, 1. 20, c. 25, torn,
vii. col. 609, edit. Benedict. Paris. 1685. Consule etiam Estium in 1 Cor. iii. 13.
* St. Barnabas, c. 15. Just. Mart. Trypho, p. 306, &c. Irenceus, 1. 5, c. 30, 31, 32,
&c. Tertull. adv. Marcion. 1. 3, c. 24. Lactant. Institut. 1. 7, c. 14, 15, 24, Sec.
*' Tertull. de Monogam. c. 10. Ambros. de Obitu Valentin, ad finem, et in Psalm i.
SECT, xi.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 283
to add a petition in behalf of that larger and better part of it
which had gone before them, that they might all together at-
tain a blessed and glorious resurrection, and be brought at
last to a perfect fruition of happiness in heaven. 92 By this
means they testified their love and respect to the dead, de-
clared their belief in the communion of saints, and kept up in
themselves a lively sense of the soul's immortality. And with
this intent a petition for the deceased was continued by our
reformers, in this very prayer of which we are now discours-
ing, in the first Common Prayer Book of king Edward VI.
But this, with a larger thanksgiving for the examples of the
saints,* than what we now use, was left out of the second book,
upon the exceptions of Bucer 93 and Calvin, 94 and the words,
militant here on earth, were added to the exhortation, Let us
pray for the whole state of Christ's Church, in order to limit
the prayer to the living only. The substance of the thanks-
giving indeed was added again afterwards, first to the Scotch
Liturgy, and then to our own at the last review : though that
in the Scotch Liturgy f keeps closest to the words in the first
* In the Common Prayer of 1549, the words, "all Christian Kings, Princes, and
Governors," were not inserted, nor the words, "and especially to this Congregation
here present." But after the petition for those that are " in trouble, sorrow, need, sick-
ness, or any other adversity," the prayer went on thus : " And especially we commend
unto thy merciful goodness, the Congregation which is here assembled in thy name, to
celebrate the commemoration of the most glorious death of thy Son. And here we do
give unto thee most high praise and hearty thanks, for the wonderful grace and virtue
declared in all thy Saints, from the beginning of the world, and chiefly in the glorious
and most blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord and God, and
in the holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs, whose examples (O Lord) and
stedfastness in thy faith, and keeping thy holy Commandments, grant us to follow. We
commend unto thy mercy, O Lord, all other thy servants which are departed hence
from us, with the sign of faith, and now do rest in the sleep of peace : Grant unto them,
we beseech thee, thy mercy and everlasting peace, and that at the day of the general
Resurrection, we and all they which be of the mystical body of thy Son, may altogether
be set on his right hand, and hear that his most joyful voice, Come unto me, O ye that
be blessed of my Father, and possess the kingdom which is prepared for you from the
beginning of the world. Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only Medi-
ator and Advocate."
t " And to all thy people give thy heavenly grace, that with meek heart and
due reverence, they may hear and receive thy holy word, truly serving thee When
in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. [And we commend c < > e m'm'u. no
especially unto thy merciful goodness the congregation which is here assem- n ion. thew
bled in thy name, to celebrate the commemoration of the most precious death ord thus
of thy Son, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.]" Then the petition for all in ad- fYmto
versity : after which as follows : " And we also bless thy holy name for all be left out.
those thy servants, who having finished their course in faith do now rest from
w Tertull. ut supra, et de Coron. Mil. c. 3, 4, et Exhortat. ad Castitat. c. 11. Cypr. Ep.
1, et 55. Euseb. in Vit. Constant. 1. 4, c. 71. Arnob. adv. Gentes sub fine, 1. 4. Cyril.
Catech. Mystag. 5. Ambros. ut supra. Epiphan. Haer. 75. Aerian. n. 7. Chrysost. de
Sacerdot. lib. 6, cap. 4, et in Moral. Horn. 3, in Ep. ad Philip, et Horn. 41, in 1 Cor.
Aug. de Cura pro Mortuis gerenda, c. 4, et Confess. 1. 9, c. 13, et Const. Apost. 1. 8, c.
41, 42, 43. Script. Anglican, p. 467, 468. 9 * Epistola ad Bucerum, as cited in
A Coal from the Altar, page 38.
284 OP THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
book of king Edward. And though the direct petition for the
faithful departed is still discontinued, yet, were it not for the
restriction of the words, militant here on earth, they might be
supposed to be implied in our present form, when we beg of
God that me WITH THEM may be partakers of his heavenly
kingdom.
SECT. XII. Of the Exhortations on the Sunday or Holy-day
before the Communion.
GREAT mysteries ought to be ushered in with
Due preparation ,1 i n n j
neces&ary to the the solemnities ot a great preparation : God gave
receiving the Sa- th e Israelites three days' warning of his design to
publish the Law, 95 and ordered their festivals to
be proclaimed by the sound of a trumpet some time before. 1 *
The Paschal Lamb (the type of Christ in this sacrament) was
to be chosen and kept by them four days, to put them in mind
of preparing for the celebration of the passover : OT and Chris-
tians, having more and higher duties to do in order to this holy
feast, ought not to have less time or shorter warning. Where-
fore, as good Hezekiah published, by particular expresses, his
intended passover long before ; 9!i so hath our Church prudently
ordered timely notice to be given, that none might pretend to
stay away out of ignorance of the time, or unfitness for the
duty, but that all might come, and with due preparation.
. 2. The ancient Church indeed had no such
no'ExhortaUons exhortations : for their daily, or at least weekly
ch the i primit ' ve commumon8 made it known that there was then
no solemn assembly of Christians without it ; and
every one (not under censure) was expected to communicate.
But now, when the time is somewhat uncertain, and our long
omissions have made some of us ignorant, and others forget-
ful of this duty ; most of us unwilling, and all of us more or
less indisposed for it; it was thought both prudent and ne-
cessary to provide these exhortations, to be read when the
Minister gives warning of the Communion, which he is always
their labours. And we yield unto thee most high praise and hearty thanks for the won-
derful grace and virtue declared in all thy servants, who have been the choice vessels
of thy grace, and the lights of the world in their several generations : most humbly be-
seeching thee, that we may have grace to follow the example of their stedfastncss in
thy faith, and obedience to thy holy Commandments, that at the day of the general Re-
surrection, we, and all they which are of the mystical body of thy Son, may be set on
his right hand, and hear that his most joyful voice, Come, ye blessed of my Father, In-
herit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Grant this, O
Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen."
Exod. xlx. 15. Lev. xxv. 9. Numb. x. 2. * Exod. xil. 3, 6. w 2 Chron. xxx.
SECT, xn.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 285
to do, upon the Sunday or some Holy-day immediately pre-
ceding.
. 3. As to the composures themselves, they The U8efulne86
are so extraordinary suitable, that if every com- of these com-
municant would duly weigh and consider them, posl
they would be no small help towards a due preparation. The
first contains proper exhortations and instructions how to pre-
pare ourselves : the latter is more urgent, and applicable to
those who generally turn their backs upon those holy myste-
ries, and shews the danger of those vain and frivolous excuses
which men frequently make for their staying away. For
which reason it is appointed by the rubric to be used instead
of the former, whenever the Minister shall observe that the
people are negligent to come.*
* In the Common Prayer of 1549, only the first of these exhortations was inserted,
and that pretty different from our present one in words, though much the same in
sense : it was a little enlarged towards the conclusion in relation to auricular and se-
cret confessions, which I shall have another occasion to take notice of hereafter." And
in that book it was designed, as now, to be read on some day before the Communion
to which the people were to be exhorted. The second exhortation was not added till
1552. And then it was appointed to be used at the Communion-time (immediately after
the prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church) " at certain times when the Curate
should see the people negligent to come to the holy Communion." And therefore it be-
gan, " We be come together at this time (dearly beloved brethren) to feed at the Lord's
Supper ; unto the which, in God's behalf, I bid you all that are here present," and so
on as in the present form, till after the words " how severe punishment hangeth over
your heads for the same" it went on thus, to reprove a custom, which it seems then
prevailed, of some people's standing gazing in the church (whilst others communicated)
without receiving. " And whereas ye offend God so sore in refusing this holy banquet,
I admonish, exhort, and beseech you, that unto this unkindness ye will not add any
more. Which thing ye shall do, if ye stand by as gazers and lookers on them that com-
municate, and be not partakers of the same yourselves. For what thing can this be
accounted else, than a further contempt and unkindness unto God ? Truly it is a great
unthankfulness to say, Nay, when ye be called ; but the fault is much greater when
men stand by, and yet will neither eat nor drink the holy Communion with others. I
pray you, what can this be else, but even to have the mysteries of Christ in derision ?
It is said unto all, Take ye and eat ; take and drink ye all of this ; do this in remem-
brance of me. With what face then, or with what countenance shall ye hear these
words ? What will this be else but a neglecting, a despising and mocking of the testa-
ment of Christ ? Wherefore rather than ye should do so, depart ye hence, and give
place to them that be godly disposed. But when you depart, I beseech you, ponder
with yourselves from whence ye depart. Ye depart from the Lord's table, ye depart
from your brethren, and from the banquet of most heavenly food. These things if ye
earnestly consider, ye shall by God's grace return to a better mind ; for the obtaining
whereof we shall make our humble petitions while we shall receive the holy Commu-
nion." And thus stood this form till the restoration of king Charles II., during all
which time that which is in our present book the first exhortation, stood the second in
the old books, as being " sometimes also to be said at the discretion of the Curate."
But in 1GG2, they were both somewhat altered and transposed, and adapted to be used
upon a Sunday or Holy-day before the Communion, which occasioned the first sentence
to that which is at present our first exhortation to be then added. Though indeed
they are now all of them so altered in the expression, and transposed in their order,
that the more curious reader, that thinks the difference worth examining, must look
into the originals ; there being no way of giving him an exact account of them here,
but by transcribing them at length, which will take up more room than I know how
to allow.
" Chap. . Sect. IT. T.
286 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
How this rubric 4> ^ ow ^ ru ^ ) " c ^ at orders these exhort-
w to be reconciled ations to be read after tlie Sermon or Homily
theNiwne^id. ** ended, may be reconciled to the rubric that
orders the Minister to give notice of the Commu-
nion before Sermon, I have already shewed upon that place.
SECT. XIII. Of the Exhortation at the Communion.
Thedesi of it ^ HE ^ ormer exhortations are designed to in-
crease the numbers of the communicants, and
this to rectify their dispositions ; that so they may be not only
many but good. In the ancient Greek Church, besides all
other preparatory matters, when the congregation were all
placed in order to receive the Sacrament ; the Priest, even
then standing on the steps to be seen of all, stretched out his
hand, and lifted up his voice in the midst of that profound
silence, inviting the worthy, and warning the unworthy to for-
bear.* 100 Which if it were necessary in those blessed days,
how much more requisite is it in our looser age, wherein men
have learned to trample upon Church discipline, and to come
out of fashion at set times, whether they be prepared or not !
Every one hopes to pass in the crowd ; but knowing the terror
of the Lord, though the people have been exhorted before, and
though they are now come with a purpose of communicating,
and are even conveniently placed for the receiving of the holy
Sacrament, yet the Priest again exhorts them in the words of
St. Paul, diligently to try and examine themselves before t/wy
presume to eat of that bread, and drink of that cup, &c.f
Agreeably to which the clause in the first of our present exhortations, " Therefore
if any of you be a blasphemer of God," &c., to the words, " body and soul," was in all
the former books inserted in this exhortation, between the words " sundry kinds of
death," and " judge therefore yourselves," &c. And in the first English Communion
Office published in the year 1547, the same clause was still more aptly appointed to be
said after this exhortation, " to them which were ready to take the Sacrament. After
which the Priest was to pause a while to see if any man would withdraw himself: (and
if he perceived any so to do, he was then to commune with him privately at convenient
leisure, and see whether he could with good exhortation bring him to grace.) After a
little pause, the Priest was to say, Ye that do truly," &c.>
t In all the books between the first of king Edward and our present one, this ex-
hortation was to be added to one of the others, which, as I have shewed in the pre-
ceding note, were, during all that time, appointed to be used upon the day of Commu-
nion. But in king Edward's first book the rubric ordered this immediately to follow
the Sermon or Homily, i. e. " if the people were not exhorted " in the said Sermon or
Homily itself " to the worthy receiving of the holy Sacrament :" and that too only
where Communions were not frequent : for by the rubric that immediately follows the
exhortation in the same book, it is allowed, that " in cathedral churches or other places
where there is daily Communion, it shall be sufficient to read this exhortation above
written once in a month : and that in parish churches, upon the week-days, it may be
left unsaid."
Chrysoit. Horn. 27, in ix. ad Hebr. torn. iv. p. 524, 529. I Sparrow's Collection, p. 22.
SECT, xiv.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 287
8. 2. The ordering that the communicants _
, <-> , ,7 7 7 ^ JT_ /. The Commum-
shall be conveniently placed for the receiving of cants when and
the holy Sacrament, before the Minister reads J}? t * ^*'
the exhortation, seems to have an eye to an old
custom, still retained in some country churches, where the
communicants kneel down in rows one behind another, and
there continue till the Minister comes to them. In the first
Common Prayer of king Edward, it is thus ordered, just after
the Offertory or Sentences : Then so many as shall be par-
takers of the holy Communion shall tarry still in the choir,
tlie men on the one side, and the women on the other side ;
where it may be remarked, that the separating the men from
the women, and allotting to each sex a distinct place, was
what was very strictly observed in the primitive Church. 8
SECT. XIV. Of the Invitation.
THE feast being now ready, and the guests pre- T , .
, . " ,, T, . , , , r . The design of it.
pared with due instruction, the Priest (who is
the steward of those mysteries) invites them to draw near ;
thereby putting them in mind, that they are now invited into
Christ's more special presence, to sit down with him at his
own table : (and therefore I think it would be more proper if
all the communicants were, at these words, to come from the
more remote parts of the Church as near to the Lord's table
as they could.) But then he adviseth them, in the words of
the primitive Liturgies, 3 (i. e. according to our present book,)
to draw near with faith, without which all their bodily ap-
proaches will avail them nothing, it being only by faith that
they can really draw near to Christ, and take this holy Sacra-
ment to their comfort. But seeing they cannot exercise their
faith as they ought, until they have heartily confessed and re-
pented of their sins ; therefore he further calls upon them to
make their humble confession to Almighty God, meekly kneel-
ing upon their knees.*
SECT. XV: Of the Confession.
BESIDES the private confession of the closet,
and that made to the Priest in cases of great fit
doubt, there was anciently a general prayer for
forgiveness and mercy in the public service of the Church, used
* In king Edward's first book, it was" to Almighty God, and to his holy Church
here gathered together in his name, meekly kneeling," &c. In all the other old ones
" to Almighty God, before the congregation here gathered together in his holy name," &c.
* Const. Apost. 1. 2, c. 57. s MTU p 6/3ov Kai niintut Ti/offtX^eTe. Liturg. S.
Chrys. et S. Jacob.
288 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. Tl.
by all the communicants when they were come to the altar. 4
And since Christ's sufferings are here commemorated, it is
very reasonable we should confess our sins which were the
causes of them : and since we hope to have our pardon sealed,
we ought first with shame and sorrow to own our transgres-
sions, for his honour who so freely forgives them : which the
congregation here does in words so apposite and pathetical,
that if their repentance be answerable to the form, it is im-
possible it should ever be more hearty and sincere.*
SECT. XVLOfthe Absolution.
The necessity of WHEN the discipline of the ancient Church
it before the Sa- was in force, no notorious offender could escape
the censures that his sin deserved : nor was he
admitted to the Sacrament without a public and solemn ab-
solution upon his repentance. But this godly discipline being
now every where laid aside, (to the great detriment of the
Church,) it is so much the more necessary to supply it by a
general Confession and Absolution : of which see more upon
the morning and evening service.
. 2. As to this particular form, it shall suffice
Whyu p 8 i^e nthi8 to note that it is in imitation of that ancient form
of blessing recorded, Numb. vi. 24, &c. And
since it is certain that there is such a power vested in the
Ministers of the Gospel, as to support the spirit of a dejected
penitent, by assuring him of a pardon in the name of God;
there can be no fitter opportunity to exercise it than now, viz.
when so many humbled sinners are kneeling before him, and
begging forgiveness at his hands : which therefore thus com-
ing accordingly from a person commissionated by Christ for
this end, ought to be received with faith and gratitude, since
it is the only way to quiet people's consciences, now revela-
tions are ceased.
SECT. XVII. Of the Sentences of Scripture.
The advantage ^ T * 8 8O necessary for every one that would
of them in thu receive comfort and benefit by this blessed Sa-
crament, to have a lively faith, and a mind freed
In all the Common Prayer Books " this general Confession was to be made in the
name of all those that were minded to receive the Holy Communion, either by one of
them, or by one of the Ministers, or by the Priest himself: " but by the Scotch Liturgy
It was confined " to the Presbyter himself, or the Deacon," and from thence by our
own (upon the exception of the Presbyterians at the last review) " to one of the Min-
isters, both he and all the people humbly kneeling upon their knees."
Chrys. Horn. 18. in 2 Cor. viii. torn. iii. p. 647, lin. 12, &c.
SECT, xvin.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 289
from unreasonable fears ; that the Church, lest any should
doubt of the validity of the foregoing Absolution, hath subjoin-
ed these Sentences ; which are the very promises on which it is
grounded, and so overflowing with sweet and powerful com-
forts, that if duly considered they will satisfy the most fearful
souls, heal the most broken hearts, and utterly banish the
blackest clouds of sorrow and despair.
SECT. XVIII. Of the Lauds and Anthem.
AFTER we have exercised our charity, repent-
ance, and faith, the next part of the office is The ^jf* of
thanksgiving, which is so considerable a part of
our present duty, that it hath given name to the whole, and
caused it to be called the Eucharist or Sacrifice of Praise.
And here we begin with the Lauds and Anthem, which, toge-
ther with most of the remaining part of the office, are purely
primitive, near as old as Christianity itself, being to be found
almost verbatim amongst the ancient writers. 5 Having there-
fore exercised our faith upon the foregoing sentences, and so
got above this world, we are now ready to go into the other,
and to join with the glorified saints and angels, in praising
and adoring that God who hath done so great things for us.
In order to this, the Minister calls upon us to
lift up our hearts, viz. by a most quick and ^'^j^/ 01 "
lively faith in the most high God, the supreme
Governor of the whole world, which being ready to do, we
immediately answer, We lift them up unto the
Lord , and so casting off all thoughts of the world, ^* ^ ^
turn our minds to God alone.
. 2. And our hearts being now all elevated together, and
in a right posture to celebrate the praises of God, the Minis-
ter invites us all to join with him in doing it, Pr Jjetus - v
saying, Let us give thanks unto our Lord God: thanks, &c.
which the people having consented to and ap- Am. it is meet
proved of, by saying, It is meet and right so to and right> &c -
do ; he turns himself to the Lord's table, and acknowledg-
eth to the divine Majesty there specially present,
that It is very meet, right, and our bounden *%**.
\duty, that me should at all times, and in all
places, give thanks, &c.
Const. Apost. 1. 8, 12. Liturg. S. Jacob. S. Chrysost. S. Basil. Cyril. Catech.
iMystag. S.
290 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
. 3. But this, in the primitive Church, was
on ly the introduction to the tv-^apioTta, properly
used in the pri- 80 ca lled, which was a great and long thanks-
mitive Church. . . /~, j r- 11 i_- c
giving to God lor all his mercies of creation,
providence, and redemption, from whence the whole service
took the name of eucharist or tltanksgiving '. For in all the
ancient Liturgies, as soon as ever the aforesaid words were
pronounced, there was immediately subjoined a commemora-
tion of all that God had done for man from the foundation of
the world, and more particularly in the great and wonderful
mystery of our redemption. And in some part or other of
this solemn glorification, was always included the trisagion or
seraphical hymn that follows next in our own Liturgy ; which
was sung, as with us, by the Minister and whole congregation
jointly,* after which the Minister again went on alone to
finish the thanksgiving. We have no where else indeed so
long a thanksgiving as that in the Constitutions ; 6 but the
length of this is no argument against its antiquity. For Justin
Martyr, when he describes the Christian rites and mysteries,
says, that " as soon as the common prayers were ended, and
they had saluted one another with a kiss, bread and wine
was brought to him who presided over the brethren, who re-
ceiving them, gave praise and glory to the Father of all things,
through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and
make Ev-^apiariav iirl TTO\V, a very long thanksgiving, for the
blessings which he bestowed upon them." 7 Afterwards indeed,
as devotion grew cold, this long doxology was contracted ;
but still so that the two greatest blessings of God, i. e. the
creation and redemption by Christ, together with the words
of institution, were always set forth, and thanks given to God
for these things. And this is supposed to have been accord-
ing to our Saviour's own example. For the Jews at the Pass-
over constantly commemorated their redemption from Egypt,
their settlement in the good land which they then possessed,
and all the other blessings which God had bestowed upon
them : * and therefore it is not to be doubted but that as our
Saviour imitated the ceremonies 'of the Jews in so many other
* This is only to be understood of the latter part of it, where it begins with Holy,
holy, holii, tic., where the chorus came in ; the former part of it being only pronounced
by the Minister himself; and so it was used in our own Church during the time of
king Edward's first Liturgy.
L. 8, c. 12. i Just. Mart. Apol- 1- c. 86, p. 125, 126. Vide et Cyril. Catech.
Mystag. 3, n. 5. Vide Fagium in Deut. viii.
SECT. XT*.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION 1 . 291
particulars of this holy Sacrament ; so also, when he gave
thanks, 9 he used a form to the same purpose ; only adding a
thanksgiving for the redemption of the world by his sufferings
and death, which was probably what he ordered his Apostles
to perform, when he commanded them to do this in remem-
brance of him, and to shew forth his death till lie come. 10
And accordingly we find, that all the ancient Liturgies have
an eucharistical prayer, agreeable in all points to that de-
scribed by Justin Martyr, (excepting in its length, to which
that in the Constitutions only comes up,) setting forth the mer-
cies of God in our creation and redemption, and particularly
in the death and resurrection of his Son. The Roman Missal,
I believe, was the first that omitted it ; and the omission of it
there might perhaps be the occasion of its not being taken
notice of when our own Liturgy was compiled. For the more
solemn festivals indeed there are some short prefaces provided
to commemorate the particular mercies of each season : but
upon ordinary occasions (as our Liturgy stands now) we have
no other thanksgiving than what these lauds contain.
SECT. XIX. Of the Trisagium.
THE Minister now looking upon himself and Therefore with
the rest of the congregation as Communicants angels and arch-
with the Church triumphant ; and all of us ap- angels '
prehending ourselves, by faith, as in the midst of that blessed
society; we join with them in singing forth the praises of
the most high God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, saying,
Therefore with angels, and archangels, and with all the com-
pany of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name, ever-
more praising thee, and saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory, \_Hosanna in
the highest, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord*~\
Glory be to thee, Lord most high.
. 2. That the angels were present at the per-
formance of divine mysteries, hath been the t A n & el p Vesen?al
opinion of both Heathens and Christians ; " and the performance
that they are especially present at the Lord's 3 lvta
Supper, is generally received. 12 For since Jesus
* The words thus enclosed [ ] were only in the first book of king Edward.
9 Matt. xxvi. 26. Mark xiv. 23. Luke xxii. 19. 1 Cor. xi. 24. 10 Luke xxii. 19.
1 Cor. xi. 25. n Aui'/iomc tTriffnoiroi't tieiuiv icpiT-i'. xai jUWmpMt* opyiaffTuv, esse di-
cit Plutarch, lib. de Orac. Angelo Orationis adhuc adstante. Tertull. de Oral. c. 12, p.
134, B. i* Chrys. in Ephes. i. Horn. 3, torn. iii. p. 778, 1. 30, 31.
U 2
292 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. TI.
by bis death bath united heaven and earth, it is fit that, in
this commemoration of his passion, we should begin to unite
o>|r voices with the heavenly choir, with whom we hope to
praise him to all eternity. For which end the Christians of
the very first ages took this hymn into their office for the Sa-
crament, 13 being of divine original, 11 and from the word holy
thrice repeated in it, called by the Greeks Tpivaytov, the Tri-
, or Thrice Holy.
SECT. XX. Of the proper Prefaces.
why to b re- ON t ^ ie g reater festivals there are proper pre-
peated eight days faces appointed, which are also to be repeated,
in case there be a Communion, for seven days
after the festivals themselves,* (excepting that for Whit-Sun-
day, which is to be repeated only six days after, because
Trinity-Sunday, which is the seventh, hath a preface peculiar
to itself;) to the end that the mercies may be the better re-
membered by often repetition, and also that all the people
(who in most places cannot communicate all in one day) may
have other opportunities, within those eight days, to join in
praising God for such great blessings.
8. 2. The reason of the Church's lengthening
Christian festi- ? ,, , . , - ,, , , , .
vais, why length- ut these high feasts for several days, is plain:
ened out for se- the subject-matter of them is of so high a nature,
vend days. j i ^u .
and so nearly concerns our salvation, that one
day would be too little to meditate upon them, and praise
God for them as we ought. A bodily deliverance may justly
require one day of thanksgiving and joy : but the deliverance
of the soul by the blessings commemorated on those times,
deserves a much longer time of praise and acknowledgment.
Since therefore it would be injurious to Christians to have
their joy and thankfulness for such mercies confined to one
day; the Church, upon the times when these unspeakable
blessings were wrought for us, invites us, by her most season-
able commands and counsels, to fill our hearts with joy and
thankfulness, and let them overflow eight days together.
. 3. The reason of their being fixed to eight
Ttehfdays 1 . days, is taken from the practice of the Jews,
who by God's appointment observed their greater
festivals, some of them for seven, and one, viz. the feast of
In king Edward's first book they were only appointed for the days themselves.
" See the note in page 291 . " Isa. vi. 3.
SECT, xxi.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 293
Tabernacles, for eight days. 19 And therefore the primitive
Church, thinking that the observation of Christian festivals
(of which the Jewish feasts were only types and shadows)
ought not to come short of them, lengthened out their higher
feasts to eight days.
Though others give a quite different and mystical reason,
viz. that as the octave or eighth day signifies Eternity, (our
whole lives being but the repetition or revolution of seven
days;) so the Church, by commanding us to observe these great
feasts for eight days, (upon the last of which especially, great
part of the solemnity is repeated which was used upon the first,)
seems to hint to us, that if we continue the seven days of this
mortal life in a due and constant service and worship of God ;
we shall, upon the eighth day of eternity, return to the first
happy state we were created in.
. 4. But whatever the rise of this custom was,
we are assured that the whole eight days were The pr e S ff" e s fthe
very solemnly observed : on which they had al-
ways some proper preface relating to the peculiar mercy of
the feast they celebrated ; to the end that all, who received at
any of those times, should, besides the general praises offered
up for all God's mercies, make a special memorial proper to
the festival.
. 5. In the Roman Church they had ten of
them, 16 but our reformers have only retained five ' he SXf
of the most ancient ; all which (except that for
Trinity-Sunday, retained by reason of the great mystery it ce-
lebrates) are concerning the principal acts of our Redemption,
viz. the Nativity, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Saviour,
and of his sending the Holy Ghost to comfort us.
SECT. XXL Of the Address.
THE nearer we approach to these holy myste-
ries, the greater reverence we ought to express; ^fn^hf/'piace!
for since it is out of God's mere grace and good-
ness, that we have the honour to approach his table ; it is at
least our duty to acknowledge it to be a free and undeserved
favour, agreeing rather to the mercy of the giver, than to the
i* Leviticus xxiii. 36. w Viz. For Low-Sunday, for Ascension-day, for Pentecost,
for Christmas-day, for the Apparition of our Lord, for the Apostles, for the Holy Trin-
ity, for the Cross, for the Lent-Fast, and for the Blessed Virgin. Johnson's Ecclesias-
tical Laws, A. D. 1 175, 14. Though I do not know what should be meant by the Appa-
rition of our Lord, except it be his Epiphany, or else his Transfiguration,
294 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
deserts of the receivers. And therefore, lest our exultations
should savour of too much confidence, we now allay them with
this act of humility, which the Priest offers up in the name of
all them that receive the Communion ; therein excusing his
own and the people's unworthiness, in words taken from the
most ancient Liturgies.
. 2. In the Scotch Common Prayer this Ad-
dress is ordered to be said just before the Min
fice in the Scotch jgter receives : and in the same place it stands
in the first Liturgy of king Edward. Though
the whole Communion-office in king Edward's first book is so
very different, as to the order of it, from what it is now, that
there can be no shewing how it stood then, but by a particu-
lar detail, which I shall therefore give in the margin.* The
Scotch Liturgy is something different from this,f though either
of them I take to be in a more primitive method than our own.
SECT. XXII. Of the Prayer of Consecration.
THE ancient Greeks and Romans would not taste of their
* The beginning of the Communion-office in king Edward's first book, as far as to
the Collect for the king, I have already given in page 262. After which it proceeds in
this order. The Epistle ; the Gospel ; the Nicene Creed ; then the Exhortation to be
used at the time of the Communion ; and after that stands the Exhortation to be used
on some day before : then the Sentences ; the Lauds, Anthem, and Prefaces ; the Prayer
for " the whole State of Christ's Church," with the Prayer of Consecration ; the Prayer
of Oblation, (of which hereafter ;) the Lord's Prayer, with this introduction, " As our Sa-
viour Christ hath commanded and taught us, we are bound to say, our Father." After
which the Priest was to say, " The peace of the Lord be always with you :" the Clerks,
" And with thy spirit." Then the Priest, " Christ our Paschal Lamb is offered for us,
once for all, when he bare our sins in his body on the Cross ; for he is the very Lamb of
God that taketh away the sins of the world : wherefore let us keep a joyful and holy
feast with the Lord." Then came the Invitation, the Confession, the Absolution, with
the comfortable Sentences out of Scripture : after those the Prayer of Address ; imme-
diately after which the Minister received, and distributed to the Congregation. And
during the Communion time the Clerks were to sing, beginning as soon as the Priest
received, " O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy upon
us : O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, Grant us thy peace." When
the Communion was ended, the Clerks were to sing the Post-Communion, which con-
sisted of the following Sentences of Scripture, which were to be "said or sung, every
day one," viz. Matt. xvi. 24. xxiv. 13. Luke i. G8, 74, 75. xii. 43. 46, 47. John iv. 23. v.
14. viii. 31, 32. xii. 3G. xiv. 21. xv. 7. Rom. viii. 31, 32, 33, 34. xiii. 12. 1 Cor. i. 30, 31.
iii. 16, 17. vi. 20. Ephes. v. 1, 2. This done, the Salutation passed between the Minister
and the People, " The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit." And then the Minis-
ter concluded the office with the second prayer in our present Post-Communion and the
blessing. How these several forms, or the rubrics that belong to them, differ from the
forms that we use now, I must shew as I am treating upon the several particulars. I
only set down the order of them here, to give the reader a general view of the whole.
t In the Scotch Liturgy, after the prayer of Consecration follows immediately a pray-
er of Oblation, (which is the same with the first prayer that follows the Lord's Prayer
in our Post-Communion, beginning, " O Lord and heavenly Father," &c., but intro-
duced with a proper introduction, which shall be given by and by.) After this prayer of
Oblation follows the Lord's Prayer; then comes the Address, and then the Priest re-
ceives and administers. After all have communicated is said the prayer, " Almighty
and everliving God," Sec., and to on as in ours.
SECT, xxii.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 295
ordinary meat and drink till they had hallowed
it by giving the first parts of it to their gods : " The ***&*> of
the Jews would not eat of their sacrifice till
Samuel came to bless it : 18 and the primitive Christians al-
ways began their common meals with a solemn prayer for a
blessing: 19 a custom so universal, that it is certainly a part of
natural religion : how much more then ought we to expect
the prayers of the Priest over this mysterious food of our
souls, before we eat of it ! especially since our Saviour him-
self did not deliver this bread and wine until he had conse-
crated them by blessing them, and giving thanks. So that
this prayer is the most ancient and essential part of the whole
Communion-office ; and there are some who believe that the
Apostles themselves, after a suitable introduction, used the
latter part of it, from those words, who in the same niffht* 1
&c., and it is certain that no Liturgy in the world hath altered
that particular.
. 2. But besides this, there was always in- A prayer for the
serted in the primitive forms, a particular pe- descent of the
tition for the descent of the Holy Ghost upon ^SSuJ"
the Sacramental Elements, which was also con- the primitive
tinued in the first Liturgy of king Edward VI.,
in very express and open terms. Hear us, merciful Fa-
ther, toe beseech thee, and with thy Holy Spirit and Word
vouchsafe to bl-\-ess and sane -\-tify these thy gifts and crea-
tures of Bread and Wine, that they may be unto us the Body
and Blood of thy most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ, who
in the same night, &c. This, upon the scruples of Bucer,
(whom I am sorry I have so often occasion to name,) was
left out at the review in the fifth of king Edward ; and the
following sentence, which he was pleased to allow of, inserted
in its stead ; viz. Hear us, O merciful Father, ice most humbly
beseech thee, and grant that we receiving these thy creatures of
Bread and Wine, according to thy Son our Saviour Jesus
Chrisfs holy Institution, in remembrance of his Death and Pas-
sion, may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood, who
in the same night, &c. In these words, it is true, the sense of
the former is still implied, and consequently by these the
Elements are now consecrated, and so become the Body and
Blood of our Saviour Christ.
Alex, ab Alex. Gen. Dier. 1. v. c. 21. 18 1 Samuel ix. 13. 19 Tert. Apol.
c. 39, p. 32, B. Matt. xxvi. 26. 1 Cor. xi. 24. * l Alcuin. de Divin. Offic. c. 39.
296 OP THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [cm*. TI.
In the rubric indeed, after the form of Ad-
attributed th^ ministration, the Church seems to suppose that
c n ?, cration of the Consecration is made by the words of Insti-
the Elements. . - , . , > .-_.-, . ,
tution : for there it says, that if the consecrated
Bread and Wine be all spent before all have communicated,
the Priest is to consecrate more according to the form before
prescribed ; beginning at [Our Saviour Christ in the same
night, &c.]yr the blessing of the Bread ; and at [Likewise
after supper, &c.] for the blessing of the Cup. This rubric
was added in the last review : but to what end, unless to save
the Minister some time, does not appear. But what is very
remarkable is, that it was taken from the Scotch Liturgy,
which expressly calls the words of Institution the mords of
Consecration * though the compilers of it had restored the
sentence that had been thrown out of king Edward's second
Common Prayer, and united it with the clause in our pre-
sent Liturgy,! imagining, one would think, that the Ele-
ments were not consecrated without them. For though all
Churches in the world have, through all ages, used the
words of Institution at the time of Consecration ; yet none, I
believe, except the Church of Rome, ever before attributed
the Consecration to the bare pronouncing of those words
only : that was always attributed, by the most ancient Fathers,
to the prayer of the Church. 22 The Lutherans and Calvinists
indeed both agree with the Papists, that the Consecration is
made by the bare repeating the words of Institution; 23 the
reason perhaps of which is because the words of Institution are
the only words recorded by the Evangelists and St. Paul, as
spoken by our Saviour when he administered to his disciples.
* "To the end there may be little left, he that officiates is required to consecrate
with the least, and then if there be want, the words of Consecration may be repeated
again, over more, either Bread or Wine : the Presbyter beginning at these words in
the Prayer of Consecration, (Our Saviour in the night that he was betrayed, 8rc.)"
Scotch Liturgy, in the fifth rubric at the end of the Communion-office.
t " Hear us, O merciful Father, we most humbly beseech thee, and of thy Almighty
goodness vouchsafe so to bless and sanctify with thy Word and Holy Spirit these thy
gifts and creatures of Bread and Wine, that they may be unto us the Body and Blood
of thy most dearly beloved Son ; so that we receiving them according to thy Son our
Savionr's holy Institution, in remembrance of his Death and Passion, may be par-
taken of the same his most precious Body and Blood ; who in the night," &c. Scotch
Liturgy.
* TV 4.' txm tlxafna-rnQtiaav TPO^. Just. Mart. Apol. 1, c. 86, p. 129. n<xxr
aiouffot dp-roif IbVioutv amua ftroufvotn AH* r'n* tvxti*. Orig. contra Cell. lib. 8.
See also Constit. Apost. 1. 8, c. 12. Cyril. Hieros. Catech. Mystag. 8, p. 289. Optat.
adv. Parmen. lib. 6. Basil, de Splr. Sanct. c. 27. Chrysost. Homil. in ('irmelerii
Appellationem. August, de Trinitat. 1. S, c. 4. *> See their Book of Reformation
of Doctrine, Administration of their Sacraments, &c. printed at London, by John
Day, 1547.
SECT, xxil.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 297
But then it should be considered, that it is plain enough that
our Saviour used other words upon the same occasion, though
the very words are not recorded : for the Evangelists tell us,
that he gave thanks and blessed the Bread and Wine : and
this sure must have been done in other words than those
which he spoke at the delivery of them to his disciples : for
blessing and thanksgiving must be performed by some words
that are addressed to God, and not by any words directed to
men : and therefore the words which our Saviour spake to
his disciples could not be the whole Consecration of the Ele-
ments, but rather a declaration of the effect which was pro-
duced by his consecrating or blessing them. And therefore I
humbly presume, that if the Minister should at the Consecra-
tion of fresh Elements, after the others are spent, repeat again
the whole form of Consecration, or at least from those words,
Hear us, merciful Father, &c., he would answer the end
of the rubric, which seems only to require the latter part of
the form from those words, who in the same night, &c. be al-
ways used at such Consecration.
And this is certainly a very essential part of the service. For
during the repetition of these words, the Priest performs to
God the representative sacrifice of the death and passion of
his Son. By taking the bread into his hands, and breaking
it, he makes a memorial to him of our Saviour's body, broken
upon the cross ; and by exhibiting the wine, he reminds him
of his blood there shed for the sins of the world ; and by laying
his hands upon each of them at the same time that he repeats
those words, Take, cat, this is my body, &c., and Drink ye all
of this, &c., he signifies and acknowledges that this comme-
moration of Christ's sacrifice so made to God, is a means in-
stituted by Christ himself to convey to the communicants the
benefits of his death and passion, viz. the pardon of our sins,
and God's grace and favour for the time to come.
-.-, i j A T_ i . i ii Breaking the
r or this reason we find, that it was always the bread a cere-
practice of the ancients, in consecrating the Eu- mony always
i i iiij/n o i used by the an-
chanst, to break the bread, (alter our baviour s dent church in
example,) to represent his passion and cruci- ^"*harist ingthe
fixion. 24 The Roman Church indeed, instead of
breaking the bread for the communicants to partake of it, only
breaks a single wafer into three parts, (of which no one par-
See this proved in Mr. Bingham's Antiquities, book 15, chap. 3, vol. vi. page
713, &c.
298 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. TI.
takes,) for the sake of retaining a shadow at least of the ancient
custom. They acknowledge, it is true, that this is an altera-
tion from the primitive practice : but then they urge that they
had 'good reasons for making it, viz. lest in breaking the
bread some danger might happen of scattering or losing some
of the crumbs or particles ; M as if Christ himself could not
have foreseen what dangers might happen, or have given as
prudent orders as the pope, concerning his own institution.
Very judiciously, therefore, did our good re-
crw8?another he f ormers (though they ordered these mords before
ceremony that rehearsed to be said, turning still to the altar,
TtTht'sMneUme. foithout any elevation or shewing the sacrament
to the people, yet) restore these other ceremo-
nies to avoid superstition : and yet this very restoration of
them is charged as superstitious byBucer; 27 who therefore
objects to them, and prevails for the leaving them all out, as
well as the above-mentioned petition for the descent of the
Holy Ghost, together with the crossings that were then also
used during the pronunciation of the said petition. The tak-
ing of the Bread and the Cup into the hands, has indeed
since been restored, viz. first to the Scotch Liturgy, and then
to our own, even at the request of the Presbyterians, at the
last review. 28 But the signing of them with the cross has ever
since been discontinued : though I do not know that there is
an ancient Liturgy in being, but what shews that this sign was
always made use of in some part or other of the office of Com-
munion. 29 Such a number of crossings indeed as the Roman
Missal enjoins, renders the service theatrical ; and are not to
be met with in any other Liturgy : but one or two we always
find ; so much having been thought proper, on this solemn
occasion, to testify that we are not ashamed of the Cross of
Christ, and that the solemn service we are then about is per-
formed in honour of a crucified Saviour. And therefore as
the Church of England has thought fit to retain this ceremony
in the ministration of one of her Sacraments, I see not why
she should lay it aside in the ministration of the other. For
that may very well be applied to it in the ministration of the
Eucharist, which the Church herself has declared of the Cross
* Salmero. Tract. 30. in Act. Ap. Chamier. de Euch. 1. 7, c. 11, n. 26, p. 384.
*> Rubric after the prayer of Consecration in the first book of king Edw. VI.
*' Censur. apud Script. Anglican, p. 472. '' See the Proceedings of the Commis-
ion ITS, &rc. p. 18, and the Reply, p. 130. * Vide et Chrysostom. Demons trat. Quod
Christiu sit Deus, c. 9, et Aug. Horn. 1 18, in Johan.
SECT, xxii.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 299
in Baptism, viz. That it was held in the primitive Church as
well by the Greeks as the Latins, with one consent, and great
applause : at what time, if any had opposed themselves against
it, they ivould certainly have been censured as enemies of the
name of the Cross, and consequently of Christ's merits, the sign
whereof they could no better endure
. 3. But besides this, our Liturgy at that time The rayerof Ob _
suffered a more material alteration : the prayer lation mangled
of Oblation, which by the first book of king Ed- and dis P laced -
ward was ordered to be used after the prayer of Consecration,
(and which has since been restored to the Scotch Common
Prayer,*) being half laid aside, and the rest of it thrown into
an improper place ; as being enjoined to be said by our pre-
sent rubric, in that part of the office which is to be used after
the people have communicated ; whereas it was always the
practice of the primitive Christians to use it during the act
of Consecration. For the holy Eucharist was, from the very
first institution, esteemed and received as a proper sacrifice,
and solemnly offered to God upon the altar, before it was re-
ceived and partaken of by the communicants. 31 In conformity
whereunto, it was bishop Overall's practice to use the first
prayer in the Post-Communion office between the Consecra-
tion and the Administering, 32 even when it was otherwise
ordered by the public Liturgy.
. 4. In the beginning of this prayer, instead Avanousread .
of those words, ONE oblation of himself once ing in this
offered, which are now printed in most Common prayer -
Prayer Books ; I have seen some that read OWN oblation of
himself once offered ; and so, among others, does Dr. Nichols
give it us, in his edition of it, which he says he corrected
from a sealed book ; though in several sealed books which
* In the first book of king Edward, and in the Scotch Liturgy, the first prayer in
our Post-Communion is ordered immediately to follow the prayer of Consecration with
this beginning : " Wherefore, O Lord and heavenly Father, according to the Institution
of thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, we thy humble servants do cele-
brate and make here before thy divine Majesty, with these thy holy gifts, the memorial
which thy Son hath willed us to make ; having in remembrance his blessed Passion,
mighty Resurrection, and glorious Ascension, rendering unto thee most hearty thanks
for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the same : entirely desiring thy fa-
therly goodness," &c., as the first prayer goes on in our Post-Communion. And in
king Edward's book, towards the end of the same prayer, after the words, " Our bound-
en duty and service," it follows thus : " and command these our prayers and suppli-
cations, by the ministry of thy holy angels, to be brought up into thy holy tabernacle,
before the sight of thy divine Majesty, not weighing our merits," &c.
31 Can. 30, A. D. 1603. si The reader may see the subject exhausted to the utmost
satisfaction, by the learned and reverend Mr. Johnson, in his treatise on the Unbloody
Sacrifice and "Altar. See Dr. Nichols's addit. Notes, p. 49.
300 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vr.
I have collated myself, I have always found it one, as it is
generally in the common books. However, the words, as
they are, are not a tautology, (as some object,) but very copi-
ous and elegant, and alluding to that portion of Scripture in
Hebrews x. where the one oblation of Christ is opposed to the
many kinds of sacrifices under the law, and the once offered
to the repetition of those sacrifices.
. 5. Dr. Nichols, in his note upon this prayer,
and M a i t 1 this r t0 ha8 delivered his opinion, that it ought to be said
prayer, and in the by the Minister upon his knees ; and the reason
nion1iffiTe mu ~ he & ives tor ifc is because it is a prayer. But that
reason would hold for kneeling at several other
prayers both in this and in other offices, which yet the rubric
directs shall be us'ed standing. As to this prayer indeed, the
rubric does not mention any posture that the Minister shall
be in at the saying it : for as to those words, standing before
the table, I am of opinion, that they only relate to the posture
of the Minister whilst he is ordering the elements ; though
in the Old Common Prayer Book it is very plain that they
referred to the posture in which the Minister was to say the
prayer ; the rubric then being no more than this, Then the
Minister standing up, shall say as followeth. The rubric in
the Scotch Liturgy is something larger, but, as I shall shew
in the next paragraph, directly orders the Priest to stand.
But as the rubric is now enlarged, the construction shews that
the word standing must refer to another thing. However,
since the rubric, before the additions to it, was so very express
for the Minister's standing at the Consecration ; I think it is
very probable, that if they who made those additions had in-
tended any alteration of the posture, they would certainly have
expressed it. For Ministers that had been always used to
stand when they consecrated, could never imagine that the
new rubric directed them to kneel, when there was not one
word of kneeling, but an express direction for standing, at the
ordering of the elements, without any following prescription
for kneeling at this prayer, even in this new rubric. And I
take it for granted, that whenever the Church does not direct
the Minister to kneel, it supposes him to stand. Though Dr.
Nichols will not allow of this ; 't because," he says, " there is
not one rubric which obliges the Minister to kneel in all the
Post-Communion service ; and yet he does not know any one
that has contended for the posture of standing in the perform-
SECT, xxn.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 301
ance of that part of the service." What the doctor has known,
I cannot tell : but I can affirm the direct contrary, that I never
knew one that contended for the posture of kneeling in the
performance of that part of the service. But if any have done
so, T am apt to think that they act contrary to the intention of
the Church. For that she supposes the Minister to stand dur-
ing that part of the service, I think is plain from her not order-
ing him to stand up whilst he gives the blessing, which she
certainly would have done, if she had supposed him to have
been kneeling before. And indeed in most parts of the whole
Communion-office the Priest is directed to stand. In the be-
ginning of the office he is ordered to say the Lord's Prayer,
with the Collect following, standing ; and so he is to con-
tinue whilst he repeats the Commandments : then follows one
of the two Collects for tlie king, the Priest standing as before.
Whilst he says the prayer for the whole state of Christ's
Church, there is no posture mentioned : but since both the
sentences before it, and the exhortation (at the time of Com-
munion) after it, are without doubt to be said standing, and
yet no mention made that there shall be any change of posture
during all that time ; it seems very evident that the Church
designed that prayer to be said standing. At the general con-
fession indeed it is very fit that the Minister should kneel, and
therefore he is there directed to do so. And though any one
knows in reason that he should stand at the absolution, yet
that too is particularly mentioned in the rubric. From thence
again to the address, before the prayer of Consecration, that
being all an act of praise, he is to stand: but there again he
is directed to kneel : but then at the end of it he is ordered to
stand up, and, after the ordering of the bread and wine, to say
the prayer of consecration, without any direction to kneel.
Nor indeed would that be a proper posture for him whilst he
is performing an act of authority, as the consecrating the ele-
ments must be allowed to be. Nor is he from hence to the
end of the office to kneel any more, except just during the
time of his own receiving. So that through the whole office
he is ordered to kneel but three times, viz. at the general con-
fession, the prayer of address, and at his receiving the ele-
ments . which being three places where there least wants a
rubric to direct him to kneel, (since, if there was no such
rubric, a Minister would of his own accord kneel down at those
times,) and yet there being an express direction at each of
302 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. TI.
those places for him to kneel ; it is very evident, that where
the rubric gives no such direction, the Minister is always to
stand.
. 6. If it be asked whether the Priest is to
We'st'beto'say 8av tn * 8 P ra y er standing before the table, or at
thu prayer stand- the north-end of it ; I answer, at the north-end
mgj>efore the Q f ^ . ^ accor< Ji n g to the rules of grammar, the
participle standing must refer to the verb order-
ed, and not to the verb say. So that whilst the Priest is or-
dering the bread and mine, he is to stand before the table :
but when he says the prayer, he is to stand so as that lie may
with the more readiness and decency break tltc bread before
the people, which must be on the north-side. For if he stood
before the table, his body would hinder the people from see-
ing : so that he must not stand there : and consequently he
must stand on the north-side ; there being, in our present ru-
bric, no other place mentioned for performing any part of this
office. In the Romish Church indeed they always stand be-
fore the altar during the time of consecration; in order to
prevent the people from being eye-witnesses of their operation
in working their pretended miracle : and in the Greek Church
they shut the chancel door, or at least draw a veil or curtain
before it, I suppose, upon the same account. 33 But our
Church, that pretends no such miracle, enjoins, we see, the di-
rect contrary to this, by ordering the Priest so to order the
bread and -mine, that he may with the more readiness and
decency break the bread, and take the cup into his hands, be-
fore the people. And with this view, it is probable, the Scotch
Liturgy ordered, that during tin' time of consecration the
presbyter should stand at such a part of the holy table, where
he may with tlie more ease and decency use both his hands. .
SECT. XXIIL Of the Form of Administration.
THE holy symbols being thus consecrated, the
inenuto blfde- communicants must not rudely take every one
Hveredby the his own part ; because God, who is the master of
^muJmf h the feast, hath provided stewards to divide to
every one their portion. Some persons indeed
have disliked the Minister's delivering the holy elements to
each communicant ; pretending that it is contrary to the prac-
tice of our Saviour, who bid the Apostles take the cup and di-
Smith's Account of the Greek Church, p. 135.
SECT. XXIH.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 303
vide it among themselves.^ But one would think that any
one that reads the context would perceive that this passage
does not relate to the eucharist, but to the paschal supper;
since it appears so evidently from the nineteenth and twenti-
eth verses of the same chapter, that the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper was not instituted till after that cup was drank.
But as to the manner of his delivering the Sacrament, the
Scriptures are wholly silent ; and consequently we have no
other means to judge what it was, but by the practice of the
first Christians, who doubtless, as far as was convenient and
requisite, imitated our Saviour in this as well as they did in
other things : and therefore since it was the general practice
among them for the Minister to deliver the elements to each
communicant, we have as much authority and reason as can
be desired to continue that practice still.
. 2. The Minister therefore that celebrateth
is first to receive the communion in both kinds Fir c S je* the
himself; then to proceed to deliver the same to
the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, in like manner, (i. e. in
both kinds,) if any be present, (that they may help the chief
Minister, as the old Common Prayer has it, or him that cele-
brateth, as it is in the Scotch Liturgy,) and after
that to the people also in order. And this is con- And peopie *
sonant to the practice of the primitive Church,
in which it was always the custom for the clergy to commu-
nicate within the rails of the altar, and before the Sacrament
was delivered to the people. 35
S. 3. The rubric further directs, that the Com-
. ,, j ,. j i ,. ., T Into their hands.
mumon must be delivered both to the clergy
and laity into tJicir hands ; which was the most primitive and
ancient way of receiving. 36 In St. Cyril's time they received
it into the hollow of their right hand, holding their left hand
under their right in the form of a cross. 37 And in some few
ages afterwards, some indiscreet persons pretending greater
reverence to the elements, as if they were defiled with their
hands, put themselves to the charges of providing little saucers
or plates of gold to receive the bread, until they were forbid-
den by the sixth general Council. 38 Another abuse the Church
of Rome brought in, where the Priest puts it into the people's
34 Luke xxii. 17. & Const. Ayost. 1. 8, c. 13. Concil. Laod. Can. 19. Concil. Tolet.
4, Can. 17. ** Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1. 6, c. 43, p. 245, B. Chrys. in Ephes. i. Horn. 3,
torn. iii. p. 778, Hn. 16. 37 Cyril. Catech. Myst. 5, 18, p. 300. & Can. 101, torn. vi.
col. 1186, A.
304 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
mouths, lest a crumb should tall aside ; which custom was
also retained in the first book of king Edward VI., though a
different reason was there alleged ; the rubric ordering that
although it be read in ancient writers that the people many
years past, received at the Priesfs hands, the Sacrament of the
Body of Christ in their own hands, and no commandment of
Christ to the contrary ; yet forasmuch as they many times con-
veyed the same secretly away, kept it with them, and diversely
abused it to superstition and wickedness : lest any such thing
hereafter should be attempted, and that an uniformity might be
used throughout the whole realm, it was thought convenient the
people should commonly receive the Sacrament of Christ's
Body in their mouths, at the Priest's hand. But however
Bucer censuring it, as savouring too much of an unlawful
honour done to the elements, 40 it was discontinued at the next
review, when the old primitive way of delivering it into the
people's hands was ordered in the room of it.
. 4. The communicants are 'enjoined, whilst
probaMyre- 8 they receive this blessed Sacrament, to be all
ceived in a pos- meekly kneeling. What posture the Apostles
ture of adoration. 3 ,. i
received it in, is uncertain ; but we may proba-
bly conjecture that they received it in a posture of adoration.
For it is plain that our Saviour blessed and gave thanks both
for the bread and wine ; and prayers and thanksgivings, we
all know, were always offered up to God in a posture of ador-
ation : and therefore we may very safely conclude that our
blessed Saviour, who was always remarkable for outward re-
verence in devotion, gave thanks for the bread and wiue in
an adoring posture.
Now it is very well known that it was a rule with the Jews
to eat of the passover to satiety : and therefore, since they
had already satisfied hunger, they cannot be supposed to have
eaten or drank so much of the holy eucharist as that they
needed repose while they did it: and since, as we have al-
ready hinted, they rose from their seats to bless the bread, it
cannot be imagined, that, without any reason, they would re-
solve to sit down again during the moment of eating it ; and
then, though they rose immediately a second time at the bless-
ing which was performed before the delivery of the cup,
that they immediately sat down again to taste the wine, as if
81 See the last rubric at the end of the Common ion -office in king Edward's first book.
Script. Anglican, p. <62.
SECT, xxin.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 305
they could neither eat nor drink the smallest quantity without
sitting.
This indeed does not amount to a demonstration, but is yet
a very probable conjecture ; and shews how groundlessly they
argue, who, from the Apostles eating the passover sitting or
leaning upon the leftside, (which was the table-gesture among
those nations,) conclude, that they ate the eucharist in the
same posture, because it was celebrated at the same time.
But besides, we may observe that the passover" The example of
itself was, at the first institution of it, command- the Apostles does
ed to be eaten standing and in haste? 1 to express not bmd us-
the haste they were in to be delivered out of their slavery and
bondage: but afterwards, when they were settled in the Land
of Promise, they ate it in a quite contrary posture, viz. sitting,
or lying down to it, as to a feast, to signify they were then at
rest, and in possession of the land. And with this custom
(though we do not find any where that it was ever commanded,
or so much as warranted by God) did our blessed Saviour
comply, and therefore doubtless thought that the alteration of
the circumstances was a justifiable reason for changing the
ceremonies. But was it ever so certain that a table-gesture
was used at the institution of the Eucharist, yet it is very rea-
sonable, since the circumstances of our blessed Saviour are
now different from what they were at the institution, that our
outward demeanour should also vary. The posture which
might then be suitable in the Apostles is not now suitable in
us : while he was corporally present with them, and they con-
versed with him as man, without any awful dread upon them,
which was due to him as the Lord of heaven and earth, no
wonder if they did use a table-posture : but then their fami-
liarity ought to be no precedent for us, who worship him in
his glory, and converse with him in the Sacrament, as he is
spiritually present ; and who therefore would be very irreverent
to approach him in any other posture than that of adoration.
As to the punctual time when the posture of
kneeling first began, it is hard to determine; but ^StJj^ 18
we are assured that it hath obtained in the West-
ern Church above twelve hundred years ; and though an-
ciently they stood in the East, 42 yet it was with fear and
trembling, with silence and downcast eyes, boning themselves
in the posture of worship and adoration.* 3
41 Exod. xii, 11. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1. 7, c. 9, p. 255, B.
Cyril. Catech. Mystag. 5, . 19, p. 301.
30G OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. TI.
But it is now the custom of the Greek, Ro-
* rnan ' Lut heran, and most Churches in the world,
to receive kneeling : nor do any scruple it, but
they who study pretences to palliate the most unjustifiable
separation, or designed neglect of this most sacred ordinance.
The < re And it is worth observing, that they who at
ceives P th^ Sacra- other times cry out so much against the Church
ment sitting. Q f E n gi an d f or retaining several ceremonies,
which, though indifferent in themselves, they say become un-
lawful by being abused by superstition and popery, can, in this
more solemn and material ceremony, agree even with the pope
himself, (who receives sitting,} rather than not differ from the
best and purest Church in the world."
Nor may I pass by unobserved that the posture
8i int n rodu y c rd hom of sit ting was first brought into the Church by the
Arians ; who stubbornly denying the divinity of
our Saviour, thought it no robbery to be equal with him, and
to sit down with him at his table ; for which reason it was
justly banished the reformed Church in Poland, by a general
synod, A. D. 1583. And it is the pope's opinion of his being
St. Peter's successor, and Christ's vicegerent, which prompts
him to use such familiarity with his Lord. 45
. 5. As for the words of Administration ; the
Th f fir8 t part of them, viz. The Body, or The Blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ, was the only form used
in St. Ambrose's time at the delivery of the Bread and Wine, 46
to which the receivers answered, Amen" both to express their
desire that it might be Christ's body and blood unto them,
and their firm belief that it was so. The next words, pre-
serve thy body and soul unto everlasting life, were added by
St. Gregory : 48 and these with the former were all that were
to be used at the delivery of the elements, during the first
Common Prayer Book of king Edward VI. But these words,
I suppose, being thought at that time to savour too much of
the real presence in the Sacrament, which was a doctrine that
then was thought to imply too much of transubstantiation to
be believed ; they were therefore left out of the second book,
and the following words prescribed in the room of them, Take
and eat this, &c., or Drink this, &c., as in the latter part of
our present forms. But these on the other side reducing the
44 Durand. Rational. 1. 4, c. 54, numb. 5. 4S Durand. ibid. 4 Ambr. de Sacr.
1. 4, c. 5, torn. iv. col. 368, O. ' Liturg. Clement. Basil. JEthiopic. Cyril. Catech.
Mytag. 5, MS. " Vide Durand. de Rit. Eccle*. Cathol. 1. 2, c. 55, numb. 16, p. 287.
SECT, xxiil.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 307
Sacrament to a bare eating and drinking in remembrance of
the death and passion of our Lord ; they were in a little time
as much disliked as the former. And therefore upon queen
Elizabeth's accession to the throne, (whose design and endea-
vour was to unite the nation as much as she could in one
doctrine and faith,) both these forms were enjoined to be used
(as we have them still) to please both parties. Though in the
Scotch Liturgy the last clause was again thrown out, and the
former only (which was prescribed by the first book) retained,
with a direction to the receiver to say jlmen . which is un-
doubtedly the most agreeable to the primitive practice, and to
the true notion of the Eucharist.
. 6. Where there are two or more Ministers Communionin
present, it is the custom for the chief Minister, or one kind ex-
for him that consecrates, to administer only the ammed -
body, and for another to follow and administer the cup.
Agreeable to an old rubric in king Edward's first Liturgy,
which orders, that if there be a Deacon or other Priest, then
shall he follow with the chalice: and as the Priest ministereth
the Sacrament of the Body, so shall he (for more expedition)
minister the Sacrament of the Blood, in form before written.
For our Church does not (with the Roman Church) rob the
people of half the Sacrament, but administers to the laity as
well as the clergy under both kinds. The Romanists indeed
pretend that Christ administered under both kinds only to the
Apostles, whom he had made priests just before, and gave no
command that it should be so received by the laity. But we
would ask whether the Apostles were not all that were then
present? If they were, in what capacity did they receive it?
how did they receive the bread before the Hoc facite, (Do
this,} as priests, or as laymen ? It is ridiculous to suppose
those words changed their capacity: though if we should al-
low they did, yet it would only relate to consecrating, and not
to receiving. But if Christ only gave it to the Apostles as
priests, it must necessarily follow, that the people are not at
all concerned in one kind or other ; but that each kind was
intended only for priests. For if the people are concerned,
how came they to be so ? Where is there any command, but
what refers to the first institution ? So that it had been much
more plausible, according to this answer, to exclude the peo-
ple wholly, than to admit them to one kind, and to debar
them of thie other.
x 2
308 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP, vi
Not so, say they, because Christ himself administered the
Sacrament to some of his disciples under one kind only. 43 But
to make out this we require, first, that it be proved that
Christ did then administer the Sacrament ; or, secondly, if he
did, that the cup was not implied; since breaking of bread,
when taken for an ordinary meal in Scripture, does not ex-
clude drinking at it.
When we appeal to the practice of the primitive ages, they
leave us : and the most impartial of them will allow that the
custom of communicating under one kind only, as is now used
in the Church of Rome, was unknown to the world for a thou-
sand years after Christ. 50 In some cases (it is true) they dip-
ped the bread in the wine, as in the case of baptized infants,
(to whom they administered the Eucharist in those primitive
times,) and of very weak, dying persons, who could not other-
wise have swallowed the bread ; and also that by this means
they might keep the Sacrament at home against all emergent
occasions. And this probably might in time make the way
easier for introducing the Sacrament under the kind of bread
only.
. 7. When all have communicated, the Minis-
ter " directed to return to the Lord's Table, and
reverently place upon it what rcmaineth of the
consecrated elements, covering the same with a fair linen cloth ;
which by the ancient writers and the Scotch Liturgy (in which
this rubric first appeared) is called the Corporal, from its
being spread over the Body or consecrated Bread,* 1 and some-
times the Pa//, 52 I suppose for the same reason. The insti-
tution of it is ascribed to Eusebius, bishop of Rome, who lived
about the year 300. 63 And that it was of common use in the
Church in the fifth century, is evident from the testimony of
Isidore Peleusiota, who also observes that the design of using
it was to represent the body of our Saviour being wrapped in
fine linen by Joseph of Arimathea. 54
SECT. XXIV. Of the Lord's Prayer.
IT is rudeness in manners to depart from a
inVdevotloiu 1 * fri en ^' 8 house so soon as the table is removed,
and an act of irreligion to rise from our common
49 Lttke xxiv. 30. * Secundum antiquam Krclesia> consuetudinem, omnes tarn
corpori quam aanguini communicabant : quod etiam adhuc in quibusdam Ecrlesiis
tenratur. Aquln. in Johan. vl. > Alrulr. de Offlc. Divin. MRad.Tunjr.de
Can. Obs. " Vid. Gratian. de CoMt. Dist. 2. * Isid. Peleus. Ep. 123.
fcucr. xxv.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 309
meals without prayer and thanksgiving : how much more ab-
surd and indecent then would it be for us to depart abruptly
from the Lord's Table ! Our Saviour himself concluded his
last Supper with a hymn, 55 (supposed to be the Paschal Hal-
lelujah,} in imitation of which all Churches have finished this
feast with solemn forms of prayer and thanksgiving.
. 2. The Lord's Prayer is placed first, and
cannot indeed be any where used more properly : pray^'why
for having now received Christ in our hearts, used first after
it is fit the first words we speak should be his :
as if not only we, but Christ lived and spake in us. We
know that to as many as receive Christ, he gives power to be-
come the sons of God, 56 so that we may now all with one heart
and one voice address ourselves cheerfully to God, and very
properly call him, Our Father, &c.
. 3. The Doxology is here annexed, because
all these devotions are designed for an act of
praise, for the benefits received in the holy Sa-
crament.
SECT. XXV. Of the first Prayer after the Lord's Prayer.
I HAVE already observed, that in the first
Common Prayer of king Edward VI. and in that
drawn up for the Church of Scotland, this first prayer in the
Post-Communion was, with a proper introduction, ordered to
be xised immediately after the prayer of Consecration : not
but that what remains of it is very proper to be used after
communicating. For St. Paul beseeches us, by the mercies
of God, to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and ac-
ceptable to God, as our reasonable service. 61 And the Fathers
esteemed it one great part of this office to dedicate ourselves
to God. For since Christ hath put us in mind of his infinite
love in giving himself for us, and in this Sacrament hath given
himself to us ; and since we have chosen him for our Lord,
and solemnly vowed to be his servants ; it is very just and
reasonable, that we should also give up ourselves wholly to
him in such a manner as this form directs us.
SECT. XXVI. Of the second Prayer after the Lord's Prayer.
WHEN we communicate often, it may be very
tfi J i_ i r i i l The design of it.
grateful, and sometimes very helpful to our de-
Matt. xxvi. 30. <* John L 12. " Rom. xii. 1.
310 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OP [CHAP, vi.
votions, to vary the form : for which cause the Church hath
supplied us with another prayer ; which, being more full of
praises and acknowledgments, will be most suitable when our
minds have a joyful sense of the benefits received in this Sa-
crament : as the former, consisting chiefly of vows and reso-
lutions, is most proper to be used when we would express our
love and duty.
SECT. XXVII. Of the Gloria in Excelsis, or the Angelic Hymn.
To conclude this office with an hymn, is so
Gl on 7 hiKh t0 &c 0d direct an imitation of our Saviour's practice, 58
that it hath ever been observed in all Churches
and ages. And though the forms may differ, yet this is as
ancient as any now extant. The former part of it is of an
heavenly original, being sung by angels at our Saviour's nati-
vity ; M and was from thence transcribed into the oriental
Liturgies, especially St. James's, where it is thrice repeated.
The latter part of it is ascribed to Telesphorus about the year
of Christ 139; and the whole hymn, with very little differ-
ence, is to be found in the Apostolical Constitutions, 60 and was
established to be used in the Church-service by the fourth
Council of Toledo about a thousand years ago. 61 In the pre-
sent Roman Missal it stands in the beginning of this office, as
it does also in the first Common Prayer of king Edward VI.,
where it immediately follows the Collect for Purity ; though
it is now, I think, placed much more properly at the close of
the Communion, when every devout communicant being full
of gratitude, and longing for an opportunity to pour out his
soul in the praises of God, cannot have a more solemn and
compact form of words to do it in than this. In the Greek
Church it makes a constant part of the morning devotions, as
well upon ordinary days, as upon Sundays and holy-days ;
only with this difference, that upon ordinary days it is only
read, whereas upon more solemn times it is appointed to be
sung. 62
SECT. XXVIII. Of the final Blessing.
THE people were always dismissed from this
ordinance by a solemn blessing pronounced by
the Bishop if present, or, in his absence, by the
Matt. xxvL 30. Luke ii. 14. Lib. vil. cap. 48. Can. 13, torn. T.
col. 1710, A. * Dr. Smith'* Account of the Greek Church, p. 224.
SECT, xxix.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 311
Priest: 63 and none were allowed to depart till this was given
by the one or the other. 64
The form here used is taken chiefly from the words of
Scripture : the first part of it from Philippians iv. 7, and the
latter part being no other than a Christian paraphrase upon
Numbers vi. 24, &c.
SECT. XXIX. Of the additional Prayers.
LEST there should be any thing left unasked in
\ji i
prayers.
this excellent office, the Church hath added six Of the additional
Collects more to be used at the Minister's discre-
tion : concerning which it will be sufficient to observe, that
they are plain and comprehensive, and almost every sentence
of them taken out of the Bible, and are as proper to be joined
to any other office as this. For which reason the rubric al-
lows them to be said as often as occasion shall serve, after the
Collects either of Morning or Evening Prayer, Communion or
Litany, by the discretion of the Minister.
When they are added to the Communion-office The rubric before
on Sundays and holy-days that have no Commu- these Collects,
nion, they are ordered to be said after the offer- ^ e v <i with the"
tory : from whence some have imagined that the first rubric after
Prayer for the Church militant is part of the
offertory ; because in the first rubric, at the end of the whole
office, that prayer, on such days, is always to be used, and
then one or more of these Collects are to follow. But that
the offertory only signifies the sentences that are read whilst
the alms and other devotions of the people are collecting, I
have already had occasion to mention. 65 To reconcile this
difference, therefore, the reader must observe, that by the
first book of king Edward VI. the prayer for Christ's Church
was never to be read but when there was a Communion. So
that then if there was no Communion, these Collects were
properly ordered to be said after the offertory. But the Com-
munion-office being afterwards thrown into a different form,
the prayer for the Church militant was added to that part of
the service, which was ordered to be read on Sundays and
other holy-days that had no Communion, without altering the
rubric of which I am now speaking. And this is that which
makes the rubrics a little inconsistent. However the differ-
" Concil. Agath. Can. 30, torn. iv. col. 1388, B. M Cone. Agath. Can. 47, torn. iv.
col. 1391, A. See page 274.
312 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vi.
'/
ence is not much. For the Collects are still to be said after
the offertory, though not immediately after, as formerly, the
prayer for the Church militant coming in between.
SECT. XXX. Of the Rubrics after the Communion.
Daiiv Commu- * N ^ e P" 01 ^ 6 Church, while Christians con-
nion's in the pri- tinued in their strength of faith and devotion,
rch> those who were qualified generally communicated
once every day; 66 which custom continued till after St. Au-
gustine's time: 67 but afterward, when charity grew cold, and
devotion faint, this custom was broke off ; and they fell from
every day to Sundays and holy-days only, and thence at Anti-
och to once a year and no more. 6 "
In regard of this neglect, canons were made by
er h w'o^whitsun- severa ^ Councils to oblige men to receive three
tide, why pre- times a year at least, viz. at Christmas, Easter,
commuSng' and Whitsuntide, (probably in conformity to the
ancient Jews, who were commanded by God him-
self to appear before the Lord at the three great feasts that
correspond to these ; viz. in the feast of unleavened Bread,
and in the. feast of Weeks, and in the feast of Taberna-
cles ,- 6s ) and those that neglected to communicate at those
seasons were censured and anathematized. 70
At the Reformation our Church took all the
churchabout e care she could to reconcile her members to fre-
on* C m quent Communion. And therefore in the first
Common Prayer Book of king Edward VI. it
was ordered that upon Wednesdays and Fridays, though there
were none to communicate with the Priest, yet (after the Litany
ended) the Priest should put upon him a plain alb or surplice,
with a cope, and say all things at the altar, (appointed to be
said at the celebration of the Lord's Supper,') until after the
offertory. And the same order was to be used all other days,
whensoever the people were accustomably assembled to pray in
the Church, and none were disposed to communicate with the
Priest. From whence it appears they took it for granted, that
there would always be a sufficient number of communicants
upon every Sunday and holy-day at the least ; so that they
** Cypr. de Oral. Dom. p. 147. Basil. EpUt. 289, torn. iii. p. 279, A. B. Aug.
Ep. 98, torn. 11. col. 267, E. Ep. 54, torn. ii. col. 124, C. " Ambr. de Sacrain. 1. 5,
c. 4, torn. iv. col. 371, K. But ice this and the foregoing particulars proved at Urge in
Mr. Bingham'i Antiquities, book XT. c. 9. Deut. xvi. 26. ' Concil. AgatU.
Can. 18, torn. iv. col. 1380, C. But sec more in Mr. Bingham, as before.
SECT, xxx.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 313
could not so much as suppose there would be no Communion
upon any of those days. But it seems they feared that upon
other days there might sometimes be none to communicate
with the Priest, and so no Communion : and therefore they
ordered, that if it should so happen for a whole week to-
gether, yet nevertheless upon Wednesdays and Fridays in
every week so much should be used of the Communion-ser-
vice as is before limited. But afterwards, as piety grew
colder and colder, the Sacrament began to be more and more
neglected, and by degrees quite laid aside on the ordinary
week-days. And then the Church did not think
it convenient to appoint any of this service upon the cornmunfon-
any other days than Sundays and holy-days. But office to t> e re ? d
.. V , ..,, . .1 , / 7.7 7 on every Sunday
upon those days she still requires that (although and holy-day,
there be no Communion, yet] all shall be said ^communion 6
that is appointed at the Communion, until the
end of tJie general prayer, [for the whole state of Christ's
Church militant here on earth,] together with one or more of
the Collects at the end of the Communion-office, concluding
with the blessing.*
One reason of which order seems to be, that
the Church may still shew her readiness to ad-
minister the Sacrament upon these days ; and so that it is not
hers nor the Minister's, but the people's fault, if it be not ad-
ministered. For the Minister, in obedience to the Church's
order, goes up to the Lord's table, and there begins the ser-
vice appointed for the Communion ; and goes on as far as he
can, till he come to the actual celebration of it : and if he stop
there, it is only because there are none, or not a sufficient
number of persons, to communicate with him. For if there
were, he is there ready to consecrate and administer it to them.
And therefore if there be no Communion on any Sunday or
holy-day in the year, the people only are to be blamed. The
Church hath done her part in ordering it, and the Minister his
in observing that order ; and if the people would do theirs
too, the holy Communion would be constantly celebrated in
* In all the books between king Edward's first and our present one, it was said only,
" upon the holy-days, if there be no Communion," &c., which supposed that upon the
Sundays there would be a Communion. Upon the holy-days too this office is to be said
" to the end of the Homily concluding with the prayer (for the whole state, &c.) and
one or more of the Collects before rehearsed, as occasion should serve." Which shews
that it was then the design of the Church, that upon all holy-days there should be a
Homily at least, if not a Sermon. And though that direction be left out now, yet still
it may be implied ; since the rubric that enjoins the Homily or Sermon comes within
that part of the service which is here ordered to be used.
314 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. iv.
every parish church in England, on every Sunday and holy-
day throughout the year. But though this may hold in some
places, yet I cannot say it will in all ; especially in populous
towns and cities ; where ray charity obliges me to believe, that
if the Ministers would but make the experiment, they would
find that they should never want a sufficient number of com-
municants, whenever they themselves should be ready to ad-
minister the Sacrament. And even in other places it were to be
wished, that the Elements were placed ready upon the table
on all Sundays and holy-days : for then the people could not
help being put in mind of what the Church looks upon as their
duty at those times ; and I persuade myself, that the Minister
would generally find a number sufficient ready to communi-
cate with him.
But another reason why so much of this service is ordered
to be read, though there be no Communion, is because there
are several particular things in that part of it, which ought
to be read as well to those who do not communicate, as to
those who do. As, first, the Decalogue, or Ten Command-
ments, of Almighty God, the supreme Lawgiver of the world,
which it is requisite the people should often hear and be put
in mind of, especially upon those days which are immediately
dedicated to his service. Secondly, the Collects, Epistles, and
Gospels, proper to all Sundays and holy-days, without which
those festivals could not be distinguished either from one an-
other, or even from ordinary days, nor consequently celebrated
so as to answer the end of their institution. Thirdly, the Ni-
cene Creed, wherein the divinity of our blessed Saviour is
asserted and declared, and therefore very proper to be used
on those days which are kept in memory of him and of his
holy Apostles, by whom that doctrine, together with our whole
religion grounded upon it, was planted and propagated in the
world. Fourthly, the offertory, or select sentences of Scrip-
ture, one or more of which are to be read, to stir up the con-
gregation to offer unto God something of what he hath given
them, as an acknowledgment that they receive from him all
they have; which, howsoever it be now neglected, the people
ought to be put in mind of at least every Lord's day. 71 Fifthly,
the prayer for the -whole state of Christ's Church tu'ilttmit
here on earth, in which we should all join as fellow members
of the same body, especially upon the great festivals of the
' > Cor. xvi. J.
SECT, xxx.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 315
year, which are generally celebrated by the whole Church we
pray for. Most of these things made up the Missa Cateclnt-
menarum of the ancient Church, i. e. that part of the service
at which the catechumens, who were not admitted to the re-
ception of the Eucharist, were allowed to be present. 72 And
in our own congregations, when there is a Communion, those
who do not communicate never depart till the end of the Ni-
cene Creed, for the abovesaid reasons : which shews, that there
is nothing in that part of the service but what may very pro-
perly be used upon any Sunday and holy-day when there is no
Communion. Nor is this a practice of our own Church alone,
but such as is warranted both by Greeks and Latins. Socrates
tells us, 73 that in Alexandria, upon Wednesdays and Fridays,
the Scriptures were read and expounded by their teachers,
and all things were done in the Communion, but only conse-
crating the mysteries. And as for the Latin Church, Duran-
dus gives direction how the Communion-service might be read
without any Communion. 74
. 2. I have supposed in one of the former para-
graphs, that this part of the Communion-office office^cfbfsaid
(though there be no Communion) is yet always at the altar,
read at the Communion-table or altar. I know JSgSto
indeed it is very frequently performed in the desk.
But I think the very reason why the Church appoints so much
of this office upon the Sundays and other holy-days, though
there be no Communion, is also a reason why it should be said
at the altar. For the Minister's reading the office till he can
go no further for want of communicants, I have observed, was
designed in order to draw communicants to the table. And
therefore is it not fit that the Minister himself should be
ready at the place, whither he himself is inviting others ? For
this reason, in the first book of king Edward, the rubric above
cited ordered expressly that it should be said at the altar.
Bucer indeed thought this tended too much towards creating
in people's minds superstitious notions of the Mass ; 75 and in
the second book of king Edward, which was modelled accord-
ing to his directions, those words were left out. Though it is
not improbable that as the word altar was thrown out every
where else in this office, so it might be left out of this rubric
upon dislike of the name ; without any intention to alter the
See Mr. Bingham's Antiquities, 1. 14. Socrat. Hist. 1. 5, c. 21. 7 * Durand.
Rational. 1. 4, c. 1, num. 23, fol. 90. 7S Buceri Censura, p. 458.
316 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. vt.
place where this part of the service on such days should be
said. And indeed I cannot understand how this alteration
could give any authority for the using any part of this office at
any other place than the Lord's table ; so long as there was
another rubric at the beginning of it, which still ordered that
the Priest should stand at the north side of the table, and
there say the Lord's Prayer with what follows, without any
allowance or permission to say it any where else when there
was no Communion. It is certain that our bishops still appre-
hended, that it was to be said there ; since several of them,
in their visitations, enjoined the Ministers to read it at the holy
table ; and there, Mr. Hooker tells us, it was in his time com-
monly read. 76 And that the Episcopal Commissioners appoint-
ed to review the Liturgy at the Restoration of king Charles II.
supposed and intended it should continue to be performed
there, appears from the Account of the Proceedings of the
Commissioners of both per suasions. The Puritans had desired,
" That the Ministers should not be required to rehearse any
part of the Liturgy at the Communion table, save only those
parts which properly belong to the Lord's Supper ; and that at
such times only when the said holy Supper is administered." 71
How this was received by the Episcopal Ministers, may be ga-
thered from the Puritans' reply. "You grant not," say they,
"that the Communion-service be read in the desk when there
is no Communion : but in the late form, (i. e. I suppose some
occasional form that was then published,) instead thereof it is
enjoined to be done at the table, (though there be no rubric in
the Common Prayer Book requiring it.") 78 Now from hence
I think it is plain, that they, who were commissioned to review
the Liturgy, designed that this office should be always read at
the altar, though they did not add any new rubric to order it,
because, I suppose, they thought the general rubric above
mentioned sufficient.
The care of our ' ^' ^ Ut tO return to ^ e care ^ our Church
church about in relation to frequency of Communions : how
rnunion' C m zealous she is still to bring her members to com-
municate oftener than she can obtain, is apparent
Rubric 4. f rom her enjoining, that in Cathedral and Col-
legiate Churches and Colleges, where there are many Priests
F.rrU-siastiral Polity, 1. 5, \. 30. " See the Exceptions against the Book of Com-
mon Prayer, page 6. " See the Preface to the Paper* that passed between the
Comnmiioners.
SECT, xxx.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 317
and Deacons, they shall all receive the Communion with the
Priest every Sunday at least, except they have a reasonable
cause to the contrary ; and from her further re-
quiring every Parishioner in general to communi-
cate at the least three times in the year, of which Easter to be
one ;* because at that time Christ our Passover was sacrificed
for us, and by his death (which we commemorate in this Sa-
crament) obtained for us everlasting life.
. 4. Every one may communicate as much R bric2 3
oftener as he pleases : the Church only puts in Solitary Masse*
this precaution, that there shall be no celebration not aUowed of -
of the Lord's Supper, except there be a convenient number to
communicate with the Priest, according to his discretion. And
if there be not above twenty persons in the Parish of discretion
to receive the Communion, yet there shall be no Communion,
except four (or three at the least) communicate with the Priest.
And this is to prevent the solitary masses which had been in-
troduced by the Church of Rome, where the Priest says mass,
and receives the Sacrament himself, though there be none to
communicate with him : which our Church disallows, not per-
mitting the Priest to consecrate the elements, unless he has
three at least to communicate with him, because our Saviour
seems to require three to make up a congregation. 79
. 5. The fifth rubric is designed to take away
all those scruples which over-conscientious peo- Erea whether
pie used to make about the Bread and Wine, to be leavened or
A ii_ T j j-i ,. i j. A.I. unleavened.
As to the .Bread, some made it essential to the
Sacrament to have leavened, others unleavened; each side,
in that, as well as in other matters of as small moment, super-
stitiously making an indifferent thing a matter of conscience.
1 The rubric that related to the frequency of Communion in king Edward's first book
at the receiving the Sacrament of the blessed Body and Blood of
Matt, xyiii. 20.
318 OF THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. TI.
Our Saviour doubtless used such bread as was ready at hand :
and therefore this Sacrament being instituted immediately
after the celebration of the passover, at which they were nei-
ther to eat leavened bread, nor so much as to have any in
their houses, upon pain of being cut off from Israel,** does
Sjrfectly demonstrate that he used that which was unleavened.
ut this perhaps was only upon the account of the passover,
when no other but unleavened bread could be used by the
Jews. After his resurrection he probably celebrated (if he
celebrated at all) in leavened bread, and such as was in com-
mon use at all other times, except the time of the passover.
And that the primitive Church always used common bread,
appears, in that the elements for the holy Eucharist were al-
ways taken out of the people's oblations of Bread and Wine,
which doubtless were such as they themselves used upon
other occasions. But when these oblations began to be left
off about the eleventh or twelfth century, the Clergy were
forced to provide the elements themselves ; and they, under
pretence of decency and respect, brought it from leavened to
unleavened, and from a loaf of common bread, that might be
broken, to a nice wafer, formed in the figure of a denarius, or
penny, to represent, as some imagine, the thirty pence for
which our Saviour was sold. And then also the people, in-
stead of offering a loaf, as formerly, were ordered to offer a
penny ; which was either to be given to the poor, or to be
expended upon something belonging to the sacrifice of the
altar. 81 However, this abuse was complained of by some dis-
cerning and judicious men, as soon as it began. But when
once introduced, it was so generally approved, that it was not
easy to lay it aside. For even after the Reformation, king
Edward's first book enjoins these unleavened wafers to be
used, though with a little alteration indeed in relation to their
size. The whole rubric, as it stood then, runs thus : For
avoiding all matters and occasions of dissension, it is meet that
the Bread prepared for the Communion be made, through all
this realm, after one sort and fashion ; that is to say, unlea-
vened and round, as it was afore, but without all manner of
print, and something more large and thicker than it was, so
that it may be aptly divided in diverse pieces : and every one
shall be divided in two pieces at the least, or more, by the dis-
M I'vxl. zli. 15, 19. "> See all these particulars proved in Nona de Rebus Litur-
gicis, 1. 1, c. 23, . 11, and in Mr. Bingham'i Antiquities, 1. 15, c. 2, {. 5, 6
SECT, xxx.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 319
cretion of the Minister, atid so distributed. And men must
not think less to be received in part than in the whole, but in
each of them the whole body of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
The bread, I suppose, was ordered to be round, in imita-
tion of the wafers that had been used both in the Greek and
Roman Church ever since the eleventh century : 82 upon
which was stamped the figure either of a Crucifix or the Holy
Lamb. But in the rubric above, it is ordered to be made
without all manner of print, and something more large and
thicker than it mas ; the custom before being to make it
small, about the size of a penny, to represent, as some ima-
gine, the thirty pence for which our Lord was sold. 83 These
superstitions the Reformation had laid aside ; but the rubric
above mentioned still affording matter for scruple, it was al-
tered at the review in the fifth of king Edward, when, in his
second book, this rubric was inserted in the room of it : And
to take away the superstition which any person hath, or might
have, in the Bread and Wine, it shall suffice that the Bread
be such as is usually to be eaten at the table with other meats,
but the best and purest wheat-bread that conveniently may be
gotten. And the same rubric, with some little difference, is
still continued in our present Liturgy. Though, by the In-
junctions of queen Elizabeth, wafer-bread seems , ,. ,,
J i n Wafer-Bread en-
to have been again enjoined: tor among some joined by queen
orders, at the end of those Injunctions, this was Ehzabeth -
one : Where also it was in the time of king Edward the
Sixth used to have the Sacramental Bread of common fine
bread ; it is ordered, for the more reverence to be given to these
holy mysteries, being the Sacraments of the Body and Blood
of our Saviour Jesus Christ, that the said Sacramental Bread
be made and formed plain, without any figure thereupon, of
the same fineness and fashion, round, though somewhat bigger
in compass and thickness, as the usual Bread and Wafer,
heretofore named singing-cakes, which served for the use of
private Mass.** Though bishop Cosin observes upon our
present rubric, that " It is not here commanded that no un-
leavened or wafer-bread be used ; but it is only said, that the
other bread may suffice. So that though there was no ne-
cessity, yet there was a liberty still reserved of using wafer-
83 Bertoldus Constantiensis de Ordine Romano. Durand. Rational. 1. 4, c. 30, n. 8.
83 Honorii Gemma Anime, 1. 1, c. 66, apud Bonam, and in Bingham, 1. 15, c. 2, \. 5.
* See bishop Sparrow's Collection, page 84, 85.
320 OP THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. TI.
bread, which was used in diverse Churches of the kingdom,
and Westminster for one, till the seventeenth of king Charles/' *
And allowed ^ or w 'hich reason perhaps, though the Scotch
by the Scotch Liturgy continues the rubric that was first in-
serted in the fifth year of king Edward ; yet a
Earenthesis is inserted, to shew that the use of wafer-bread is
iwful ; (though it be lawful to have wafer -bread?) it shall
suffice, and so on, as in the rubric of our own Liturgy.
. 6. Another thing about which there might
remainder of the be dissension, is, how the Elements that remain
Elements how should be disposed of afterwards, and therefore
it is provided by another rubric, that if any of
the Bread and Wine remain unconsecrated, the Curate shall
liave it to his own use.* For though it hath not been actually
consecrated, yet by its being dedicated and offered to God, it
ceases to be common, and therefore properly belongs to the
Minister as God's steward.
But if any remain of that which was consecrated, it shall
not be carried out of the church, but the Priest, and such other
' of the communicants as he shall then call unto him, shall im-
mediately after the blessing, reverently eat and drink the same.\
In the primitive Church, whatever of the consecrated Ele-
ments were left after all had communicated, were either
reserved by the Priest to be administered to infirm persons
in cases of exigency, that they might not die without re-
ceiving the blessed Sacrament ; M or else were sent about to
absent friends, as pledges and tokens of love and agreement
in the unity of the same faith. 87 But this custom being
abused, was afterwards prohibited by the Council of Laodi-
cea, 88 and then the remains began to be divided among the
Clergy; 89 and sometimes the other communicants were al-
lowed to partake with them, 90 as is now usual in our Church,
where care is taken to prevent the superstitious reservation
of them formerly practised by the Papists. However, it would
be convenient if the Scotch rubric were observed, by which,
to the end there may be little left, he that officiates is required
to consecrate mith the least.
* First added in king Edward's second book.
t Added first to the Scotch Liturgy, and then to our own at the last review.
* See Dr. Nichols's additional Notes, page 54. * Euseh. Hist. Eccl. 1. 6, c. 44,
p. 246, C. Excerpt. Egbert. 22. Concil. torn. vi. coL 1588. ' Just. Mart. Apol. 1. c.
85, p. 127, 128. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. 1. 5, c. 24, p. 193, H. "Can. 14, torn. i. col. 150,
A. Const. Apost. 1. 8, c. 31. *> Theophil. Alex. Can. 7, ap. Bevereg. Pandect.
Canon. Apost. &c. tom. ii. p. 572, F.
HECT. xxx.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 321
S. 7. The seventh rubric is a direction how _
TI 7 i fir 7 7i 7 -77 TT Rubric 7. The
the Bread and trine shall be provided. How Bread and wine,
they were provided in the primitive Church I ^ d to ** pr -
have already shewed. Afterwards it seems it was
the custom for every house in the parish to provide in their
turns the holy Loaf, (under which name I suppose were com-
prehended both the Elements of Bread and Wine ;) and the
good Man and good Woman that provided were particularly
remembered in the prayers of the Church. 91 But by the first
book of king Edward, the care of providing was thrown upon
the Pastors and Curates, who were obliged continually to find,
at their costs and charges in their cures, sufficient Bread and
Wine for the holy Communion, as oft as their parishioners
should be disposed for their spiritual comfort to receive the
same. But then it was ordered, that, in recompense of such
costs and charges, the parishioners of every parish should offer
every Sunday, at the time of the offertory, the just value and
price of the holy Loaf, (with all such money and other things
as were wont to be offered with the same,} to the use of the
Pastors and Curates, and that in such order and course as
they loere wont to find, and pay the said holy Loaf. And in
Chapels annexed, where the people had not been accustomed to
pay any holy Bread, there they were either to make some
charitable provision for the bearing of the charges of the Com-
munion ; or else (for receiving of the same) resort to the par-
ish church. But now, since, from this method of providing,
several unforeseen inconveniences might, and most probably
did, arise, either from the negligence, or obstinacy, or poverty
of the parishioners; it was therefore afterwards ordered, that
the Bread and Wine for the Communion should be provided
by the Curate and the Churchwardens, at the charges of the
parish ; and that the parish should be discharged of such sums
of money, or other duties which hitherto they have paid for the
same, by order of their houses every Sunday. And this is the
method the Church still uses ; the former part of this rubric
being continued in our present Communion-office, though the
latter part was left out, as having reference to a custom which
had for a long while been forgotten.
. 8. The next rubric, as far as it concerns the Rubric 8 Eccle .
duty of communicating, has already been taken siasticai dutie&
91 See L'Estrange's Alliance, p. 172.
Y
322 OP THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF [CHAP. TI.
t wh be' *Sd When not ' ce f- But the chief design of it is to settle
the payment of Ecclesiastical Duties. For it is
hereby ordered, that yearly at Easter every parishioner shall
reckon with his Parson, Vicar, or Curate, or his or their deputy
or deputies, and pay to them or him all ecclesiastical duties,
accustomably due, and then at that time to be paid.* What
are the duties here mentioned is a matter of doubt : bishop
Stillingfleet supposes them to be a composition for personal
tithes, (i. e. the tenth part of every one's clear gains,) due at
that time j 93 but the present bishop of Lincoln imagines them
to be partly such duties or oblations as were not immediately
annexed to any particular office ; and partly a composition for
the holy Loaf, which the Communicants were to bring and
offer, and which is therefore to be answered at Easter, be-
cause at that festival every person was, even by the rubric,
bound to communicate. 93 They both perhaps may have judged
right : for by an act of parliament in the second and third of
Edward VI. such personal tithes are to be paid yearly at or
before the feast of Easter, and also all lawful and accustomarj/
offerings, which had not been paid at the usual offering days,**
are to be paid for at Easter next following.
j 8. 9. The last rubric is concerning the dis-
The money <> , - , . ,
given at the posal of the money given at the Communion,
Tf. 10 and was not added tul t ne last review ; but to
prevent all occasion of disagreement, it was then
ordered, that after the divine service ended, the money given at
the offertory shall be disposed of to such pious and charitable
uses as the Minister and Churchwardens shall think fit; where-
in if they disagree it shall be disposed of as the Ordinary shall
The rubric In king Edward's first book was this : " Furthermore, every man and
woman to be bound to hear and be at the Divine Service in the parish church where
they may be resident, and there with devout prayer, or godly silence and meditation,
to occupy themselves: there to pay their duties, to communicate once in the year at
the least ; and there to receive and take all other sacraments and rites in this book ap-
pointed. And whosoever willingly upon no just cause doth absent themselves, or doth
ungodly in the parish church occupy themselves ; upon proof thereof, by the ecclesias-
tical laws of the realm to be excommunicated, or suffer other punishment, as shall to
the ecclesiastical Judge (according to his discretion) seem convenient." In all the other
old books it began thus : " And note, every parishioner shall communicate at the least
three times in the year, of which Easter to be one ; and shall also receive the sacra-
ments and other rites according to the order in this book appointed." The word tacra-
mrnti I suppose is used here in a large sense, for the other ordinances of Confirmation,
Matrimony, &c., which were all called tacramentt before, and for some time after the
Reformation.
** Bishop Stillingfleet's Ecclesiastical Cases, page 252. Bishop Gibson's Codex,
vol. II. p. 740. M The usual offering-days at first were Christmas, Easter, Whitsun-
tide, and the feast of the dedication of the parish-church : but by an act of Henry VIII.
A. D. 1530, they were changed to Christmas, Easter, Midsummer, and Michaelmas.
SECT, xxxi.] THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 323
appoint. The hint was taken from the Scotch Liturgy, in
which immediately after the blessing this rubric follows :
After the divine service ended, that which was offered shall be
divided in the presence of the Presbyter and the Church-
wardens, whereof one half shall be to the use of the Presbyter,
to provide him books of holy divinity ; the other half shall be
faithfully kept and employed on some pious or charitable use,
for the decent furnishing of that church, or the public relief of
their poor, at the discretion of the Presbyter and Church-
wardens.
SECT. XXXI. Of the Protestation.
AT the end of the whole office is added a Pro-
testation concerning the gesture of kneeling at the he jn! esta
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and explaining
the Church's notion of the presence of Christ's Body and
Blood in the same. This was first added in the second book
of king Edward, in order to disclaim any Adoration to be in-
tended by that ceremony either unto the Sacramental Bread
or Wine there bodily received, or unto any real and essential
presence there being, of Christ's natural Flesh and Blood.
But upon queen Elizabeth's accession this was laid aside. For
it being the queen's design (as I have already observed more
than once) to unite the nation as much as she could in one
faith ; it was therefore recommended to the divines, to see
that there should be no definition made against the aforesaid
notion, but that it should remain as a speculative opinion not
determined, but in which every one might be left to the free-
dom of his own mind. And being thus left out, it appears no
more in any of our Common Prayers till the last review : at
which time it was again added, with some little amendment of
the expression and transposal of the sentences ; but exactly
the same throughout as to the sense ; excepting that the words
real and essential Presence were thought proper to be changed
for corporal Presence. For a real Presence of the Body
and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist is what our Church fre-
quently asserts in this very office of Communion, in her Arti-
cles, in her Homilies, and her Catechism : particularly in the
two latter, in the first of which she tells us, Thus much we
must be sure to hold, that in the Supper of the Lord there is
no vain ceremony, no bare sign, no untrue figure of a thing
absent; but the Communion of the Body and Blood of the
Y 2
324 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHAP. TH.
Lord in a marvellous incorporation, which by the operation of
the Holy Ghost is through faith wrought in the souls of the
faithful, &c., 95 ivho therefore (as she further instructs us in the
Catechism) verily and indeed take and receive the Body and
Blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper. This is the doctrine of
our Church in relation to the real Presence in the Sacrament,
entirely different from the doctrine of Transubstantiation,
which she here, as well as elsewhere, 96 disclaims: a doctrine
which requires so many ridiculous absurdities and notorious
contradictions to support it, that it is needless to offer any
confutation of it, in a Church which allows her members the
use of their senses, reason, Scripture, and antiquity.
CHAPTER VII.
OF THE MINISTRATION OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF
INFANTS, TO BE USED IN THE CHURCH.
THE INTRODUCTION.
HAVING now gone through the constant offices of the Church,
I come, in the next place, to those which are only to be used
as there is occasion. And of these the office of Baptism, be-
ing the first that can regularly be administered, (as being the
first good office that is done to us when we are born,) is there-
fore properly set first. In order to treat of which in the same
method I have observed hitherto, it will be necessary, in the
first place, to say something of the Sacrament itself.
. 1 . Water therefore (which is the matter of
SuVby h aii it) 'hath 80 natural a property of cleansing, that it
nations as a ym- hath been made the symbol of purification by all
boiof purifica- nat j on8f and used wi { h that signification in the
rites of all religions. 1 The heathens used divers
kinds of baptism to expiate their crimes ; 2 and the Jews bap-
tize such as are admitted proselytes at large ; 3 and when any
of those nations turn Jews, who are already circumcised, they
receive them by baptism only : with which ceremony also
M First part of the Homily concerning the Sacrament. Article XXVIII. and
Homilies. ' T<> Mp tyW(. Plut. Qutest. Rom. * Tcrt. de B.-ipt. c. 5, p. 225, 1),
et 226, A. * See this proved in Bishop Hooper'* Discourse on Lent, part ii. chap. 2,
*. 2, p. 159 ; and In Dr. Wall on Infant-Baptism, Introduction, {.1,2,
IKTRODUCTIOS.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 325
they purified such heathen women as were taken in marriage
by Jewish husbands. And this is that universal, plain, and
easy rite, which our Lord Jesus adopted to be a mystery in
his religion, and the sacrament of admission into the Christian
Church. 4
. 2. Nor can any thing better represent Re-
generation or New Birth, which our Saviour H N e VS. s a
requires of us before we can become Christians, 5
than mashing with water. For as that is the first office done
unto us after our natural births, in order to cleanse us from
the pollutions of the womb; 6 so when we are admitted into
the Church, we are first baptized, (whereby the Holy Ghost
cleanses us from the pollutions of our sins, and renews us unto
God, 7 ) and so become, as it were, spiritual infants, and enter
into a new life and being, which before we had not. For this
reason, when the Jews baptized any of their proselytes, they
called it their New Birth, Regeneration, or being born again*
And therefore when our Saviour used this phrase to Nicode-
mus, he wondered that he, being a master in Israel, should
not understand him. And even among the Greeks this was
thought to have such virtue and efficacy, as to give new life
as it were to those who were esteemed religiously dead. For
if any one that was living was reported to be deceased, and
had funeral solemnities performed upon his account ; he was
afterwards, upon his return, abominated of all men, as a per-
son unlucky and profane, banished and excluded from all hu-
man conversation, and not so much as admitted to be present
in the temples, or at the sacrifices of their gods, till he was
born again, as it were, by being washed like a child from the
womb : a custom founded upon the direction of the oracle at
Delphos. For one Aristinus falling under this misfortune,
and consulting Apollo to know how he might be freed from
it, his priestess Pythia returned him this answer :
"Oo-o-a irtp iv Xe^iforari yvvii TIKTOVCTCI -rtXil-rat,
TauTa Tru\iv TtXiaavra Oveiv fj.aKaps.a'ffi 0toi<ri.
What women do, when one in childbed lies,
That do again ; so may'st thou sacrifice.
Aristinus rightly apprehending what the oracle meant, offered
himself to women as one newly brought forth, to be washed
again with water. And from this example it grew a custom
Matt, xxiii. 19. * j o hn iii. 37. Ezek. xvi. 4. ' Tit. iii. 5. See
Dr. Wall on Infant-Baptism, Introduction, . C.
326 OP THE MINISTRATION [CHAP. TIL
among the Greeks, when the like calamity befell any man, to
expiate and purify him after this manner. 9 And thus in the
Christian Church, by our Saviour's institution and appoint-
ment, those who are dead to God through sin, are born again
by the mashing of 'Regeneration , and renewing of the Holy
Ghost. 10 And how proper (by the way) water is to typify the
Holy Glwst, may be seen by consulting several texts of Scrip-
ture, where Water and the Blessed Spirit are mentioned as
corresponding one to another. 11
MHk,honey,and That the primitive Christians had this notion
salt, and white of baptism, I think may very fairly be asserted
c(enTiy n given~to fr m those other rites which they anciently used
the new-bap- in the celebration of this mystery : such as were
the giving the new-baptized milk and honey, and
salt, which were all given to infants new-born ; 13 and the put-
ting upon them white garments, to resemble the swaddling
spoken of by Ezekiel. 13
All these, the ancient Fathers tell us, were done
to signify and represent spiritual birth and in-
fancy, and out of reference to what was done at the natural
birth of children. 11 And therefore who can doubt but that
the principal rite of mashing with water (and the only one
indeed ordained by our blessed Saviour) was chosen by him
for this same reason, to be the sacrament of our initiation ;
and that those who brought in the other rites above mentioned,
did so conceive of it, and for that reason took in
those imitations ? In some Churches indeed they
have now for a long time been discontinued ; for
they being only used as emblems to signify that the persons
were become as new-born babes, they were left off at such
times, when, whole nations becoming Christians, there were
hardly any other baptisms than of babes in a proper sense,
who needed no such representations to signify their infancy.
. 3. As to the form of baptism, our Saviour
Thefo n 0fBap ~ only instituted the essential parts of it, viz. that
it should be performed by a proper Minister,
with water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. , 1S
But as for the rites and circumstances of the administration
of it, he left them to the determination of the Apostles and
Plutarch. Quest. Romanic. < Tit. iil. 5. " Isa. xliv. 3. John iv. 14. John
vil. 37, 38, 39. Ita. vii. IS. Ezek. xvi. 4. Ezek. xvi. C. " Harnaba*. c.6.
Tertul. de Bapt. c. 6, et contra Marclon. 1. i. c. 14. Hieron. adv. Luciferianos. Cyril.
Catech. Mystag. 4. u Matt, xxviii. 19.
INTRODUCTION.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 327
the Church. Yet without doubt a. form of baptism was very
early agreed upon, because almost all Churches in the world
do administer it much after the same manner. The latter
ages indeed had made some superfluous additions ; but our
reformers removed them, and restored this office to a nearer
resemblance of the ancient model, than any other Church can
shew. We have now three several offices in our Liturgy, viz.
one for Public Baptism of Infants in the Church, another for
Private Baptism of Children in Houses, and a third for such
as are of Riper Years, and able to answer for themselves.
The first is what is now most commonly used ; for there be-
ing but very few adult persons, who now come over to the
Church, infants are generally the persons that are baptized :
and they being appointed to be brought to church, except in
danger of death, the public form of baptism is there ordered to
be used. Of this therefore I propose to treat in order at large,
and only to take notice of those particulars in the others
which differ from this.
. 4. And the office we are now upon being
appointed for infants, it will be proper to premise In ju"tified Usm
a few general hints in relation to baptizing them.
For that reason I shall here observe, that as baptism was ap-
pointed for the same end that circumcision was, and did suc-
ceed in the place of it ; it is reasonable it should be admin-
istered to the same kinds of persons. For since God
commanded infants to be circumcised, 16 it is not to be doubted
but that he would also have them to be baptized. Nor is it
necessary that Christ should particularly mention children in
his commission : n it is sufficient that he did not except
them : for that supposeth he intended no alteration in this
particular, but that children should be initiated into the Chris-
tian as well as into the Jewish religion. And indeed if we
consider the custom of the Jews at that time, it is impossible
but that the Apostles, to whom he delivered his commission,
must necessarily understand him as speaking of children, as
well as of grown or adult persons. For it is well known that the
Jews baptized, as well as circumcised, all prose- A custom among
lytes of the nations or Gentiles that were con- the Jews to bap-
verted to their religion. And if any of those tbe infants>
converts had infant children then born to them, they also
were, at their father's desire, both circumcised and baptized,
if males ; or if females, only baptized, and so admitted as
> 5 Gen. xvii. 12. Matt, xxviii. 18.
328 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHAP. TII.
proselytes. The child's inability to declare or promise for
himself was not looked upon as a bar against his reception
into the covenant : but the desire of the lather to dedicate
him to God, was accounted available and sufficient to justify
his admission.* Nor does the ceremony of baptism appear to
have been used amongst the Jews upon such extraordinary
occasions only ; hut it seems rather to have been an ordinary
rite constantly administered by them, as well to their own as
to the children of proselytes ; for the Mishna prescribes the
solemn washing, as well as the circumcision of the child,
which I know not how to interpret, if it is not to be under-
stood of a Baptismal Washing. 18
...... This therefore being the constant practice of
iso alteration in , - , rf* . ... * . .
that respect in- the Jews, and our oaviour in his commission
8av1our by our making no exception, but bidding his Apostles^o
and disciple all nations, baptizing them, &c.,
I think that is a sufficient argument to prove, that he intend-
ed no alteration in the objects of Baptism, but only to exalt
the action of baptizing to a nobler purpose, and a larger use.
For when a commission is given in so few words, and there is
no express direction what they should do with the infants of
those who become disciples ; the natural and obvious inter-
pretation is, that they must do in that matter as they and the
Church in which they lived had always used to do. And we
may assure ourselves, that had the Apostles left children out
of the covenant, and not received them as members of the
Church ; the Jews, who took such care that their children
should not want their own sacrament of initiation, would cer-
tainly have urged this as a great objection against the Chris-
tian religion. But we do not read of any such objection ever
made, and therefore we may depend upon it, that the Apostles
gave them no room for it.
It is true indeed, it has been often objected to
the'NefTesta- U8> tnat tne Scriptures make no express mention
mentnoargu- of the Baptism of Infants ; to which we might re-
P lv > were tne objection true, that neither do the
Scriptures make any express mention of the alter-
* This is only to be understood or luch children as were born before their parents
themselves were baptized : for til the children that were born to them afterwards, tlu-y
reckoned were clean by their birth, as beinp born of parents that were cleansed from
the polluted state of heathenism, and were in the covenant of Abraham, and so natural
Jews.
' Misna de Sabbato. c. 19, J. 19. Vide ct R. Obadiah de Bartenora, et Maimon. in
loc. ' See this, and what is said above, proved at large in Dr. Wall's Introduction to
his History of Infant-Baptism.
INTRODUCTION.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 329
ation of the Sabbath : and yet I believe there are but few of
those who are of a different opinion from us, in the point be-
fore us, but who think the observation of the first day of the
week is sufficiently authorized from the New Testament : and
yet this is not more clearly implied than the other. We read
in several places of whole households being baptized with-
out any exception of their infants or children. Now it is very
unlikely that there should be so many households without
children ; and therefore, since none such are excepted, we
may conclude that they were baptized as well as the rest of
the family : only the Baptism of adult persons being more for
the honour of the Christian religion, the holy writers chose
only to name the chief persons baptized, thinking it sufficient
to include their children and servants under the general terms
of all theirs, or their households. And what
makes it still more probable that children were th^New Testa-
really included in these terms is, that the Scrip- ment makes as
,. ,, . ., . ., -P, . r much against
tures no where mention the deterring the Baptism the Antipdo-
of any Christian's child, or the putting it off till ^Fnsfus 883 "
he came to years of discretion. An argument
that surely may as justly be urged against the adversaries to
Infant-Baptism, as the silence of the Scriptures is against us.
But it seems this objection of the silence of the i n f ant _ Bapt j sm
Scriptures is not true. For the learned Dr. proved from the
Wall has sufficiently rescued a passage in the New Testament -
New Testament from the gloss of the moderns ; and shewed,
both by comparing it with other texts in Scripture, and from
the interpretation of the ancients, that it cannot fairly be un-
derstood in any other sense than of the Baptism of Infants.
The passage I mean is a text in St. Paul's first Epistle to the
Corinthians, 21 Else were your children unclean, but now are
they Iwly : on which he shews from several places of the Old
Testament, 22 (i. e. from the original texts, and the intepret-
ation given of them by the learned Jews,) that to sanctify or
make holy, was a common expression among the Jews for
baptizing or washing. It is also plain from the New Testa-
ment, that the same expression is twice used by this same
Apostle in this same sense, viz. once in the Epistle from
whence this text is taken, 21 and once again in his Epistle to
*> Actsxvi. 15, 33. 1 Cor.i. 16. Chap. vii. 14. m Exod. xix. 10. Levit. vi.
27. 2 Sam. xi. 4. Dr. Wall's History of Infant-Baptism, pan i. chap. 11, . 11.
* 1 Cor.vi. 11.
330 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHAP. vii.
the Ephesians. 25 He also refers to a learned author to shew,
that it was a common phrase with the ancients, to say that an
infant or other person was sanctified or made holy, when they
meant that he was baptized. 28 Some instances of which he
also gives himself, as they come in his way upon other occa-
sions.' 1 " And it is certain, that this sense of this place in St.
Paul very much illustrates what goes before. The Apostle
was directing, that if any man or woman had a husband or
wife that did not believe, they should not separate or part, if
the unbelieving person was still willing to cohabit ; the reason
of which he says is, because the unbeliecing husband is sancti-
fied, or, (as it is in the Greek, and as all commentators agree
it should be translated,) an unbelieving husband has been
sanctified by the imfe ; i. e. it has often come to pass, that an
unbelieving husband has been brought to the faith, and so to
Baptism, by his wife ; and an unbelieving mifeJtas, in the same
sense, been sanctified by her husband. As a proof of which
he observes in the close, Else mould your children be un-
clean, but now are tlicy holy ; i. e. if it were not so, or if the
wickedness or infidelity of the unbelieving party did usually
prevail, the children of such would generally be kept unbap-
tized, and so be unclean : but now, by the grace of God, we
see a contrary effect ; for they are generally baptized, and so
become sanctified or holy. This exposition (as Dr. Wall ob-
serves) is so much the more probable, because there has been
no other sense of those words yet given by expositors, but
what is liable to much dispute : and that sense especially,
which is given by our adversaries, (viz. of Legitimacy in op-
position to Bastardy,) seems the most forced and far-fetched
of all.
But though we could not be able to produce
proved from'the from Scripture any express mention of the Bap-
writiiiKs of the tism of Infants; yet when we descend to the
most anciei i- wr j terg o f fa c ncxt SUCC eeding ages, we have all
their testimonies unanimous on our side. And
surely they must be allowed to be competent witnesses of
what was done by the Apostles themselves. They could tell
whether themselves or their fathers were baptized in their
infancy, or whether it was the Apostles' doctrine or advice to
Eph. v. 25. Mr. Walker's Modest Plea for Infant-Baptism, chap. 29.
*' Dr. Wall, ut supra, and chap. 15, $. 2, chap. 18, . 4, and chap. 19, . 19. See also
his Defence of his History against Mr. Gale, p. 363, &e.
IKTRODUCTION.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 331
stay till they were grown up to years of maturity. But now
in none of these do we meet with any thing that favours the
opinion of our adversaries, but almost in all of them a direct
confutation of their errors. In some of them we have express
and direct mention of the practice of the Church in baptizing
Infants ; and even in those in whose way it does not come to
say any thing as to the age when Baptism should be adminis-
tered, we have frequent sentences from whence it may be in-
ferred by way of implication. St. Clement, in the Apostles'
time, speaks of Original Sin as affecting Infants : 28 if so, then
Baptism is necessary to wash it away. Justin Martyr affirms,
that Baptism is to us in the stead of Circumcision ; 29 from
whence we may fairly conclude, that it ought to be ad-
ministered to the same kinds of persons. In another place, 30
he mentions several persons who mere discipled (or made
disciples) to Christ whilst children . which plainly intimates,
that children may be made disciples, and consequently may
be baptized. For the only objection of the Antipsedobaptists
against Infant-Baptism, is their incapacity of being made dis-
ciples. Now here they may perceive that, if Justin rightly
understood the word, children may be disciples. And it is
worth observing, that the persons he here speaks of are said
to be sixty and seventy years old : and therefore if they were
discipled and baptized when children, it follows they must be
baptized even in the days of the Apostles. But to proceed :
Irenaeus, who lived but a little after Justin, reckons Infants
among those who were born ayain to God. 31 A phrase which,
in most ecclesiastical writers, and especially in Irenaeus, is
generally used to signify that Regeneration, which is the
effect of Baptism. 32 And that this must be the sense of the
word here is plain, because Infants are not capable of being
born again in any other sense. Tertullian again, a few years
after him, speaks of Infant-Baptism as the general practice of
his time ; though by the heretical notions which it is probable
he had then imbibed, he thought the deferring of it was more
profitable. 33 In the next century, Origen, in several places,
expressly assures us that Infants mere baptized Iry the usage of
the Church. And lastly, about the year 250, (which was but
M Clem. Rom. Eph. i. ad Cor. cap. xvii. *> Dialog, cum Tryph. p. 59, ed. Steph.
xo Just. Martyr. Apol. 1, prope ab initio. 3l Omnes enim venit per semetipsum sal-
vare : omnes inquam qui per eum renascuntur in Deuin ; Infantes et Parvulos, et
Pueros, et Juvenes, et Seniores. Irenaeus adv. Hares. 1. 2, c. 39. si See this proved
at large in Dr. Wall's History of Infant-Baptism, part i. chap. 3. w Tertull. de Bapt.
c. 18. * Orig. Horn. 8, in Lev. xii. xiii. part i. p. 90. Horn. 14, in Luc. ii. part ii.
p. 142, L.
332 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHAP. vn.
150 years after the Apostles,) St. Cyprian, with sixty-six
bishops in council with him, declared all unanimously, that
none were to be hindered from Baptism and the grace of
God: "Which rule," saith he, "as it holds for all, so we
think it more especially to be observed in reference to Infants,
and persons newly born." 35 * The same might be shewn
from all the other Fathers of the three first centuries, who all
speak of it as a doctrine, settled and established from the be-
ginning of Christianity, without once questioning or opposing
it ; which certainly they would have done in some or other
of their works, had they known it to have been an innovation,
contrary to the doctrine or practice of the Apostles.
Hut 1 have already been too long upon a single particular,
and must therefore refer the more inquisitive reader to the
learned labours of an eminent divine, 36 who has exhausted the
subject to the satisfaction and honour of the English Church.
SECT. I. Of the Rubrics before the Offices.
1. It appeareth by ancient rcr tiers, (as was
s u m r rormeriy ap ~ expressed in the rubric till the last review,)
administered that t/te Sacrament of Baptism in the old tune
andwhifamntlde. roas not commonly ministered but at two times
in the year, at Easter and at Whitsuntide : at
Easter, in remembrance of Christ's resurrection, of which
baptism is a figure ; 37 and at Whitsuntide, in remembrance of
the three thousand souls baptized by the Apostles at that
time. 38 For this reason in the Western Church, all that were
born after Easter were kept until Whit-Sunday ; and all that
were born after Whit-Sunday were reserved until next Easter:
unless some imminent danger of death hastened the adminis~
tration of it before. 31 * Though in the Eastern Church, the
feast of Epiphany was also assigned for the administration of
this Sacrament, in memory of our Saviour's being, as it is
supposed, baptized upon that day. 40 And about the eighth or
ninth century, the time for solemn baptism was enlarged even
in the Latin Church, all Churches being moved by reason of
the thing, to administer baptism (as at first) at all times of the
year. 41
* This consultation was held, not to decide whether Infants were to be baptized,
(that they took for granted.) but whether they might regularly be baptized before the
eighth day. Upon which the resolution of the whole Council was formed, that Baptism
it to be denied to none that is born.
** Cypr. Kp. 64, p. 1S8. * Dr. Wall's History of Infant-Baptism. '' Rom. vi. 4.
** AcU ii. 41. w Beatus Kenanus in Tertull. de t'oron. Milit. 40 Greg. Naz.
Oral. 40, vol. i. p. 54, A. ' See this proved in Dr. Nichols's note (/<) upon this rubric.
ECT. i.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 333
But yet tliouqh the custom above mentioned
7 * ,. j / . i i j i To be adminis-
be now grown out of use, ana (as the old rubric tered now only
goes on) cannot, for many considerations, be upon Sundays
77 / j '* .,7, 1^ J * j.- 77 or holy-days.
well restored again ; it is thought good to follow
tJie same, as near as conveniently may be. And therefore
our present rubric still orders, that the people be admonished,
that it is most convenient that baptism should not be adminis-
tered but upon Sundays and other holy-days, when the most
number of people come together: as well for that the congrega-
tion there present may testify the receiving of them that b?
newly baptized into the number of Christ's Church ; as also
because in the baptism of infants every man present may be
put in remembrance of his own profession made to God in his
baptism. For this cause also it is further declared expedient,
that baptism be administered in the vulgar tongue. Neverthe-
less (if necessity so require) children may be bap-
tized upon any other day, or (as it was worded ^f^ciLlty?*
in the old Common Prayers) children may at all
times be baptized at home ; or lastly, as it was expressed in the
first book of king Edward, either at Church or else at home.
. 2. But then it is to be observed, that if the
occasion be so urgent as to require baptism at andscandaiofad-
home, the Church has provided a particular office ministering Bap-
f it j i i- <? -i T-- i_ j- ii. i. tism at home.
for the administration of it : which directs, that
the essential parts of the sacrament be administered immedi-
ately in private ; but defers the performance of the other
solemnities till the child can be brought into the church. As
to the office we are now upon, it is by no means to be used in
any place but the church. It is ordered to be said at the font,
in the middle of the morning or evening prayer, and all along
supposes a congregation to be present ; and particularly in one
of the addresses which the Priest is to use, it is very absurd
for him to tell the godfathers and godmothers in a chamber,
that tJiey have brought the child thither to be baptized, when
he himself is brought thither to baptize it. It is still more
absurd for him in such a place to use that expression, Grant
that whosoever is here dedicated to thee by our office and min-
istry, &c. For he knows that the word here cannot be ap-
plicable to the place he is in : nor yet has he any authority to
omit or alter the form.
If we look back into the practice of the primitive Church,
we shall find that the place where this solemn act was per-
334 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHAP. vu.
formed was at first indeed unlimited : In any place wliere
there mas mater, as Justin Martyr tells us; 4 - in ponds or
lakes, in springs or rivers, as Tertullian speaks ; 43 but always
as near as might be to the place of their public assemblies.
For it was never (except upon extraordinary occasions) done
without the presence of the congregation. A rule the primi-
tive Christians so zealously kept to, that the Trullan Council
does not allow this holy sacrament to be administered even in
chapels that were appropriate or private, but only in the public
or parish churches ; punishing the persons offending, if clergy,
with deposition ; if laity, with excommunication. 44
In our own Church indeed, since our unhappy confusions,
this office hath been very frequently made use of in private :
and some Ministers have thought themselves, to prevent the
greater mischief of separation, necessitated to comply with
the obstinacy of the greater and more powerful of their
parishioners : who, for their ease or humour, or for the con-
venience of a more splendid and pompous christening, re-
solving to have their children baptized at home, if their own
Minister refuse it, will get some other to do it.
But such persons ought calmly to consider how contrary to
reason and the plain design of the institution of this sacra-
ment, this perverse custom, and their obstinate persisting in
it, is. For what is the end of that sacred ordinance, but to
initiate the person into the Church of Christ, and to entitle
him to the privileges of it ? And where can there be a better
representation of that society, than in a congregation assem-
bled after the most solemn and conspicuous manner for the
worship of God, and for the testifying of their communion in
it ? Where can the profession be more properly made before
such admission ; where the stipulation given, where the pro-
mise to undertake the duties of a Christian, but in such an
assembly of Christians ? How then can all this be done in
confusion and precipitance, without any timely notice or pre-
paration, in private, in the corner of a bed-chamber, parlour,
or kitchen, (where I have known it to be administered,) and
there perhaps out of a basin, or pipkin, a tea-cup, or a punch-
bowl, (as the excellent Dr. Wall with indignation observes, 44 )
and in the presence of only two or three, or scarce so many
as may be called a congregation ? The ordinance is certainly
" Apol. l,c. 79, p. 516, lln.8, 9. De Bapt. c. 4, p. 223, C. Can. 59, torn. vi.
col. 1170, A. See Dr. Wall against Mr. Gale, p. 405.
IECT. I.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 335
public ; public in the nature and end of it, and therefore such
ought the celebration of it to be ; the neglect whereof is the
less excusable, because it is so easily remedied.
II. The next rubric (which was added at the
last review) is concerning the godfathers and ^"^ai'and^i 6
godmothers. The use of which in the Christian tiquity of godfa-
Church was derived from the Jews, as well as the 352? god
initiation of infants itself. 46 And it is by some
believed that the witnesses mentioned by Isaiah at the naming
of his son? 1 were of the same nature with these sureties. 48 -
8. 2. In the primitive Church they were so ,
i !.** * f. *u * c it, The use of them.
early, that it is not easy to fix the time of their
beginning. Some of the most ancient Fathers, make men-
tion of them, 49 and through all the successive ages afterwards
we find the use of them continued, without any scruple or in-
terruption, till the Anabaptists, and other Puritans of late
years, raised some idle clamours against them. Some of these
I shall have a proper place to speak to hereafter. In the mean
while I desire to observe in general, that since the laws of all
nations (because infants cannot speak for themselves) have
allowed them guardians to contract for them in secular mat-
ters ; which contracts, if they be fair and beneficial, the in-
fants must make good when they come to age ; it cannot, one
would think, be unreasonable for the Church to allow them
spiritual guardians, to promise those things in their name,
without which they cannot obtain salvation. And this too,
at the same time, gives security to the Church,
., . ., , ., , ' 3 , ,i . * ' Whence called
that the children shall not apostatize, from sureties, wit-
whence they are called sureties ; provides mon- nesses, and .god-
/"ii * j ii e> ..i fathers, &c.
itors to every Christian, to remind them or the
vow which they made in their presence, from whence they are
called witnesses ; and better represents the new birth, by
giving the infants new and spiritual relations, whence they are
termed godfathers and godmothers.
. 3. How long the Church has fixed the num-
ber of these sureties, I cannot tell : but by a con- Ttien t h^ rof
stitution of Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury,
A. D. 1236, 50 and in a synod held at Worcester, A. D. 1240, sl
See this proved in Dr. Lightfoot, voi ii. p. 119. Isaiah viii. 2. Vid.
Jun. et Tremel. in locum. 4 npoff^tpon-et , Just. Mart, ad Orthodoxos. 'Avuiovu,
Dionys. Areop. Eccles. Hier. c. 2, p. 77, B. C. Sponsores, Tert. de Wapt. c. 18, p. 231, C.
Fidejussores, Augustin. Serm. 168, in Append, ad torn. v. col. 329, C. w Bp. Gib-
son's Codex, vol. i. p. 439. i Synod. Wigorn. cap. 5, apud. Concil. per Labbee, torn,
xi. par. i, col. 575, C.
336 OP THE MINISTRATION [CHAF. VH.
I find the same provision made as is now required by our ru-
bric, viz. That there should be for every male child that is to
be baptized, two godfathers and one godmother, and for every
female one godfather and two godmothers.
. 4. By the twenty-ninth canon of our Church,
no P ar ^^ is to be admitted to answer as godfa-
to be admitted ther for his orcn child.* 1 For the parents are
godmo'thers" 1 ' 1 already engaged under such strict bonds, both by
nature and religion, to take care of their chil-
dren's education, that the Church does not think she can
lay them under greater : but still makes provision, that if,
notwithstanding these obligations, the parents should be
negligent, or if it should please God to take them to him-
self before their children be grown up ; there yet may be
others, upon whom it shall lie to see that the children do not
want due instructions, by means of such carelessness, or death
of their parents. And for a further prevention of people's
entering upon this charge, before they are capable of under-
standing the trust they take upon themselves, it is further
provided by the above-mentioned canon, that no person be
admitted godfather or godmother, before the said person so un-
dertaking hath received the holy Communion.
III. When there are children to be baptized,
the parents shall give knowledge thereof over
night, or in the morning, before the beginning of Morning
Prayer, to the Curate. And then the godfathers and godmo-
thers, and the people with the children must be ready at the font,*
so called, I suppose, because Baptism, at the be-
gi" nm g f Christianity, was performed in springs
or fountains. They were at first built near the
church, then in the church-porch, and afterwards (as it is now
usual amongst us) placed in the church itself, but
st '^ keeping the lower end, to intimate that Bap-
the church. tisin is the entrance into the mystical Church.
Formerly very In the primitive times we meet with them very
large and capacious, not only that they might
" Must be ready at the church-door." So the first book of king Edward, which also
order* in the last rubric at the end of the Office, that " if the number of children to be
baptized, and the multitude of people present be so great that they cannot conveniently
stand at the church-door, then let them stand within the church in some convenient
place, nigh unto the church-door ; and there all things to be said and done appointed to
be said and done at the church-door."
" See also Queen Elizabeth's Advertisements, A. D. 1564, in Bishop Sparrow's Col-
lection, page 125.
CT. li.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 337
comport with the general customs of those times, viz. of per-
sons being immersed or put under water ; but also because
the stated times of Baptism returning so seldom, great num-
bers were usually baptized at the same time. In the middle
of them was always a partition ; the one part for men, the other
for women ; that so, by being baptized asunder, they might
avoid giving offence and scandal. But immersion being now
too generally discontinued, they have shrunk into little small
fonts, scarce bigger than mortars, and only employed to hold
less basins with water, though this last be expressly contrary
to an ancient advertisement of our Church. 53 It is still indeed
required that there be a font in every church
made of stoned because, saith Durand, 55 the yrb &Sj' of
water that typified Baptism in the wilderness
flowed from a rock, and because Christ, who gave forth the
living water, is in Scripture called the Corner-Stone and the
Rock.
. 2. At this font the children, &c., are to be
ready, eitJter immediately after the last Lesson at ^performed 7
morning prayer, or else immediately after the * fter the secotld
last Lesson at evening prayer, as the Curate by
his discretion shall appoint. The reason of which I take to
be, because by that time the whole congregation is supposed
to be assembled ; which shews the irregularity (which prevails
much in some churches) of putting off christenings till the
whole service is over, and so reducing them (by the departing
of the congregation) to almost private baptism.
SECT. II. Of the preparative Prayers and Exhortations, to
be used before the Administration of Baptism.
I. The people with the children, being ready,
and the Priest coining to the font, (which is then The fi t "f 1 que8 "
to be filled with pure water,) as our present ru-
bric directs, and standing there, is, in the first place, to ask,
Whether tlie child has been already baptized or no ? The
reason of which is, because Baptism is never to be repeated :
for as there is but one Lord and one Faith, so there is but
one Baptism. And in the primitive Church, those that
stood up so earnestly for rebaptizing those who had been bap-
See the Advertisements of Queen Elizateth, A. D. 1564, in Bishop Sparrow, p. 125.
M Canon XVIII. ** Rational. Div. Offic. 1. 6, c. 82, num. 25, fol. 354. M Exod.
xvii. 6. Eph. iv. 5
z
338 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHA*. vii.
tized by heretics, did not look upon that as a second Baptism,
but esteemed that which had been conferred by heretics as
invalid ; seeing heretics, being out of the Church, could not
give what they had not. 53 And others, rather than repeat
that sacrament, allowed even that Baptism to be valid which
was administered by heretics, if it appeared that it had been
performed in tlie name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost.
II. If the Minister be answered, that the child
Th " tion rta hath not been " baptized, he then begins the so-
lemnity with an exhortation to prayer ; for there
being a mutual covenant in this sacrament between God and
man, so vast a disproportion between the parties, and so great
a condescension on the part of the Almighty, (who designs
only our advantage by it, and is moved by nothing but his
own free grace to agree to it,) it is very reasonable the whole
solemnity should be begun with an humble address to God.
III. For which purpose follow two prayers :
in the first of which we commemorate how God
did typify this salvation, which he now gives by Baptism, in
saving Noah and his family by water and by carrying the
Israelites safe through the Red Sea, 60 as also how Christ him-
self, by being baptized, sanctified mater to the mystical mash-
ing amay of sin ; and upon these grounds, we pray that God
by his Spirit mill mash and sanctify this child that he may
be delivered from his mrath, received into the ark of hi#
Church, and so filled with grace as to live holily here, and
happily hereafter.*
In the second prayer, to express our earnestness and im-
portunity, we again renew our address, requesting, first, That
this child maybe pardoned and regenerated; and, secondly,
That it may be adopted and accepted by Almighty God.
. 2. Between these two prayers in king Ed-
ofTh b e le pn? 8 ward's first Liturgy, the Priest was to ask the
baptized in the name of the child of its godfathers and god-
rhurch Ve mothers, and then to make a cross upon its
forehead and breast, saying,
N. Receive the sign of the holy cross both in thy forehead
and in thy breast, in token that thou shall not be ashamed to
The first prayer in king Edward's book was a little differently expressed ; but to
the same sense, the language only being afterwards amended.
Tert. de Bapt. c. 15, p. 230, B. Cyprian. Hist. Concil. Carthag. p. 229, &c. Apost.
Const. 1. 6, c. IS. Cyril. Hieros. Prsef. J. 4, p. 6. "I Pet. iii. 20, 21. 1 Cor. x. 2.
SECT, it.] OP PUBLIC BAPTISM OP INFANTS. 339
confess thy faith in Christ crucified; and so on, as in our
own form, only speaking all along to the child. This is now
done only upon the forehead, and reserved till after the child
is baptized : though it is manifest there were anciently in the
primitive Church two several signings with the cross : viz. one
before Baptism, 61 as was ordered by our first Liturgy ; and the
other after it, which was used with Unction at the time of Con-
firmation, of which I shall have occasion to speak hereafter.
Why the crossing which we now retain is ordered after Bap-
tism, will be shewn when I come to that part of the service.
. 3. After the second of these prayers, in the Exorcising an
first Liturgy of king Edward, follows a form of ancient practice
exorcism, which I have printed in the margin,* m Ba P tlsm -
which was founded upon a custom that obtained in the ancient
ages of the Church, to exorcise the person baptized, or to cast
the Devil out of him, who was supposed to have taken pos-
session of the catechumen in his unregenerate state. And it
cannot be denied but that possessions by evil spirits were
very frequent before the spreading of the Gospel, when we
read that many of them were ejected through the name of
Christ. But the use of exorcism, as an ordinary rite in the
administration of Baptism, cannot well be proved from any
earlier authors than the fourth century, when it was taken in
to denote that persons, before they were regenerate by Bap-
tism, were under the kingdom of darkness, and held by the
power of sin and the Devil. 62 But it being urged by Bucer,
in his censure of the Liturgy, that this exorcism was originally
used to none but demoniacs, and that it was uncharitable to
imagine that all were demoniacs who came to Baptism ; 3 it
was thought prudent by our reformers to leave it out of the
Liturgy, when they took a review of it? in the fifth and sixth
of king Edward. But to proceed in our own office.
IV. The people standing up, (which shews
.1 . .1 *,_ -i i "I .1 i' The Gospel, how
that they were to kneel at the two foregoing properly chose.
* Then let the Priest, looking upon the children, say,
I command thee, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost, that thou come out and depart from these infants, whom our Lord Jesus
Christ hath vouchsafed to call to his holy Baptism, to be made members of his body,
and of his holy congregation. Therefore, thou cursed spirit, remember thy sentence,
remember thy judgment, remember the day to be at hand, wherein thou shall burn in
fire everlasting, prepared for thee and thy angels. And presume not hereafter to ex-
ercise any tyranny towards these infants, whom Christ hath bought with his precious
blood, and by this his holy Baptism calleth to be of his flock.
61 Ambr. de iis qui initiantur, c. 4. August, de Symbolo, 1. 2, c. 1. <* Greg. Naz-
Oral. 40. Cyril. Hieros. in Praef. ad Catech. Bucer. Script. Anglican, p. 480.
Z 2
310 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHAP. vn.
prayers,) the Minister, in the next place, is to read to them
a portion out of the Gospel of St. Mark.* Which, though
anciently applied to the sacrament of Baptism, 04 has been
censured by some as improper for this place ; because the
children there mentioned were not brought to be baptized.
But if people would but consider upon what account the Gos-
pel is placed here, I cannot think but they would retract so
impertinent a charge. In the making of a covenant, the ex-
press consent of both parties is required : and therefore the
covenant of Baptism being now to be made, between Al-
mighty God and the child to be baptized ; it is reasonable,
that, before the sureties engage in behalf of the infant, they
should have some comfortable assurances that God on his part
will be pleased to consent to and make good the agreement.
For their satisfaction, therefore, the Priest, who is God's am-
bassador, produces a warrant from Scripture, (the declaration
of his will,) whereby it appears that God is willing to receive
infants into his favoiir, and hath by Jesus Christ declared
them capable of that grace and glory, which on God's part are
promised in this baptismal covenant : wherefore the sureties
need not fear to make the stipulation on t/ieir part, since they
have God's own word that there is no impediment in children
to make them incapable of receiving that which he hath
promised, and will surely perform.
. p . From all which premises, the Church, in a
An Exhortation. . . , f , ' , '
bnei exhortation that lollows, concludes, that
the sureties may cheerfully promise that which belongs to
their part, since God by his Son hath given sufficient security
that his part shall be accomplished. But this being the
overflowings of God's pure mercy and goodness, and not
owing to any merits or deserts in us, it is fit it should be ac-
knowledged in an humble manner.
V. And therefore next follows a thauksgiv-
eThanksgiv- -^ ^ ouf Qwn call to the know l e d ge ofj an(J
faith in God, which we are put in mind of by
this fresh occasion : and wherein we also beg of God to give
In the first book of king Edward, the Priest was to say, " The Lord be with you."
The people were to answer, " And with thy spirit." And then followed the Gospel.
t In the Common Prayer of 1549, the conclusion of this exhortation was thus : " Let
us faithfully and devoutly give thanks unto him, and say the prayer which the Lord
himself taught : and in declaration of our faith, let us also recite the articles contained
in our Creed." Then the Minister, with the godfathers and godmothers and people
present, were first to say the Lord's Prayer, and then the Creed. AfUr which followed
the Thanksgiving.
w Tert. de B.iptismo, c. IS, p. 231.
MSCT. a.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 341
a new instance of his goodness, by giving his holy Spirit to
the infant now to be baptized, tbat so it may be born again,
and made an lieir of everlasting salvation.
. 2. After this thanksgiving in king Edward's An old ceremony
first Liturgy, tJte Priest mas to lake one of the in king Edward's
children by the right hand, the other being firstbook -
brought after him ; and coming into the church toward the
font (for all the former part of the service was then said at
the church-door) he rvas to say, The Lord vouchsafe to re-
ceive you into his holy household, and to keep and govern
you always in the same, that you may have everlasting life.
Amen.
VI. And now no doubt remaining but that
God is ready and willing to perform his part of
the covenant, so soon as the child shall promise
on his ; the Priest addresses himself to the godfathers and
godmothers to promise for him, and from them takes security
that the infant shall observe the conditions that are required
of him. And in this there is nothing strange or new ; nothing
which is not used almost in every contract. By an old law of
the Romans, all magistrates were obliged, within five days
after admission to their office, to take an oath to observe
the laws. Now it happened that C. Valerius Flaccus was
chosen edile, or overseer of the public buildings. But he be-
ing before Flamen Dialis, or Jupiter's high priest, could not
be admitted by the Romans to swear ; their laws supposing
that so sacred a person would voluntarily do what an oath
would oblige him to. C. Valerius however desired that his
brother, as his proxy, might be sworn in his stead : to this
the commons agreed, and passed an act that it should be all
the same as if the edile had sworn himself. 65 Much after the
same manner, whenever kings are crowned in their infancy,
some of the nobility, deputed to represent them, take the
usual oaths. The same do ambassadors for their principals
at the ratifying of leagues or articles ; and guardians for their
minors, who are bound by the law to stand to what is con-
tracted for them. Since then all nations and orders of men
act by this method, why should it be charged as a fault upon
the Church, that she admits infants to baptism, by sponsors
undertaking for them ?
VII. Having thus justified the reasonableness The stipulation
of a vicarious stipulation, let us now proceed to to be made by
M Livii, lib. 31, c. 50.
342 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHJP. vn.
question and consider the form that is here used. It is drawn
up all along by way of question and answer,
which seems to have been the method even in the days of the
Apostles : for St. Peter calls baptism the answer of a good
conscience : 66 and in the primitive Church, queries were al-
ways put to the persons baptized, which persons at age an-
swered themselves, and children by their representatives, 67
who are therefore to answer in the first person, (as the advo-
cate speaks in the person of the client,) / renounce, &c.,
because the contract is properly made with the child.
. 2. For which reason, in the first book of
In the e chTd e f kin S Edward, the priest is ordered to demand
of the child these several questions proposed ;
and in our present Liturgy, though the Minister directs him-
self to the godfathers and godmothers, yet he speaks by them
to the child, as is manifestly apparent from the third question :
and consequently the child is supposed to return the several
answers which are made by the godfathers, &c., and to pro-
mise by tliose that are his sureties (as the above preface ex-
presses it) that he will renounce the Devil and all his works,
and constantly believe God's holy word, and obediently keep
his Commandments.
. 3. The queries proposed are four, of which
_ ; g of the last was added at the Restoration ; there
being but three of them in any of the former
books, though in the first of king Edward they are broken
into eight. They being all of them exceedingly suitable and
proper, I think it not amiss to take notice of them severally.
_ .4. First, then, when we enter into covenant
with God, we must have the same friends and ene-
mies as he hath ; especially when the same that are enemies
to him are also enemies to our salvation. And therefore,
since children are by nature the slaves of the Devil, and,
though they have not yet been actually in his service, will
nevertheless be apt to be drawn into it, by the pomps and
fflory of the world, and the carnal desires of the flesh ; it is
necessary to secure them for God betimes, and to engage them
to take all these for their enemies, since whoso loveth them
cannot love God. 88
. 5. Secondly, faith is a necessary qualifica-
tion for baptism ; " and therefore before Philip
M 1 Peter III. 21. Tertull. de Bapt.c. 18, p. 231, C. et S. August. EpUt. 93, Com.
2, col. 267, F. 1 John II. 15. Mark xvi. 16.
SECT, it.) OF PUPLIC BAPTISM OP INFANTS. 343
would baptize the eunuch, he asked him, if he believed with
all his heart ; and received his answer that he believed Jesus
to be the Son of God."' From which remarkable precedent
the Church hath ever since demanded of all those who enter
into the Christian profession, if they believe all the Articles
which are implied in that profession : and this was either
done by way of question and answer, 71 or else the party bap-
tized (if of age) was made to repeat the whole Creed."
. 6. But thirdly, it is not only necessary that
the party to be baptized do believe the Christian
faith ; but he must also desire to be joined to that society by
the solemn rite of initiation : wherefore the child is further
demanded, whetlier he mill be baptized in this faith ; because
God will have no unwilling servants, nor ought men to be
compelled by violence to religion. And yet the Christian re-
ligion is so reasonable and profitable, both as to this world
and the next, that the godfathers may very well presume to
answer for the child, that this is his desire . since if the child
could understand the excellency of this religion, and speak its
mind, it would without doubt be ready to make the same reply.
. 7. Lastly, St. Paul tells us, they that are Que 4
baptized must walk in newness of life:"' 3 for
which reason the child is demanded, fourthly. If he will keep
God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same
all the days of his life ? For since he now takes Christ for his
Lord and Master, and lists himself under his banner, it is fit
he should vow, in the words of this sacrament, to observe
the commands of his general. Wherefore as he promised to
forsake all evil before, so now he must engage to do all that is
good, without which he cannot be admitted into the Chris-
tian Church.
. 8. I cannot conclude this section till I have This baptismal
observed, that this whole stipulation is so exactly vow very prim i-
conformable to that which was used in the pri- tlve '
mitive Church, that it cannot be unpleasant to compare them
together. All that were to be baptized were brought to the
entrance of the baptistery or font, and standing with their faces
towards the west, (which being directly opposite to the east,
the place of light, did symbolically represent the prince of
darkness, whom they were to renounce,) were commanded to
*" Acts viii. 37. Cyril. Catech. Mystag. 2, . 4, p. 285. Ambr. de Sacr. 1. 2, c.
7, torn. vi. col. 360, K. Aug. Serm. 58, in Matt. vi. torn. v. col. 337, D. E.
" 3 Rom. vi. 4.
344 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHAP. vn.
stretch out their hands as it were in defiance of him ; and then
the bishop asked them every one, " Dost thou renounce the
Devil and all his works, powers, and service ? " To which each
party answered, " I do renounce them." " Dost thou re-
nounce the world, and all its pomps and vanities ? " Answer,
"I do renounce them." 74 In the next place they made an
open confession of their faith, the bishop asking, " Dost thou
believe in God the Father Almighty, &c., in Jesus Christ his
only Son our Lord, who, &c. Dost thou believe in the Holy
Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, and in one baptism of re-
pentance for remission of sins, and the life everlasting?" To
all which each party answered, " I do believe ; " as our Church
still requires in this office. 75
SECT. III. Of the Administration of Baptism.
T*. , .orfnr ! THE contract being now made, it is fit the
i ne pra) eriur r i 11 i i j i
thesanctuication Minister should more peculiarly intercede with
lild> God for grace to perform it; and therefore, in
the next place, he offers up four short petitions for the child's
sanctification. Most of our commentators upon the Common
Prayer think, that they were added to supply the place of the
old Exorcisms. But it is certain they were placed in the first
book of king Edward with no such intent. For by that (as I
have observed) a form of Exorcism was to be used over every
child that was brought to be baptized : whereas these petitions
were only to be used at such times as the water in the font
was to be changed and consecrated, which was not then order-
ed to be done above once a month. For which reason the
form for consecrating it did not, as now, make a part of the
public office for baptism, but was placed by itself, at the end
of the office for the administration of it in private, (i. e. at the
end of the whole ; for there was no office then for the baptism
of such as are of riper years.)
And for the con- The form that was used then was something
secretion of the different from what we use now. It was intro-
duced with a prayer, that was afterwards left out
at the second review.* And these petitions that are still re-
" O most merciful God our Saviour Jeiu Christ, who hast ordained the element of
water for the regeneration of thy faithful people, upon whom, being baptized in the
74 Const. Apost. 1. 7, c. 41. Dion. Areop. de Ecclen. Hier. c. 2, p. 77, D. Ambr. de
Init. c. 2, torn. iv. col. 343, K. De Sacrament. 1. 1, c. 2, torn. iv. col. 354, A. n Const.
Apost. 1. 7, c. 41. Cyril. Catech. Mystag. 2, {. 4, p. 285. Ambr. de Sacram. 1. 2, c. 7
torn. iv. col. SCO, K.
SECT. HI.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 345
tained, ran then in the plural number, and the future tense,
in the behalf of all that should be baptized till the water
should be changed again. And this is the reason that the last
of these petitions still runs in general terms, it being con-
tinued word for word from the old form. Between the two
last also were four other petitions inserted, which are now
omitted.* And after all (the usual salutation intervening,
viz. The Lord be with you, And with thy spirit] followed
the prayer, which we still retain for the consecration of the
water. There is some little difference in it towards the con-
clusion, because the water being sanctified by the first prayer
above mentioned, there was no occasion to repeat the conse-
cration in this ; for which reason the words then, and in all
the books to the last review, ran in this form : Regard, we
beseech thee, the supplications of thy congregation, and grant
that all thy servants, which shall be baptized in this water,
prepared for the ministration of thy holy Sacrament, \_ivJtich
we here bless and dedicate in thy name to this spiritual wash-
ing,^ may receive the fulness of 'thy grace ; and so on.
Of this form Bucer, in his Censure, 16 could by no means
approve. Such blessings and consecrations of things inanimate
tends strangely (he tells us) to create in people's minds terrible
notions of magic or conjuration. He allows such consecra-
tions indeed to be very ancient, but however they are not to
be found in the word of God. At the second reformation
therefore, the Common Prayer Book comes out with all that
relates directly to the consecration of the water omitted. The
river of Jordan, the Holy Ghost came down in the likeness of a dove ; send down, we
beseech thee, the same thy Holy Spirit to assist us, and to be present at this our invo-
cation of thy holy name : sanctify-^-this fountain of baptism, tliou that art the sanctifier
of all things, that by the power of thy word, all those that shall be baptized therein,
may be spiritually]regenerated, and made the children of everlasting adoption. Amen."
This was the first prayer for the consecrating of the water in the first Common Prayer
From whence these words, " Sanctify this fountain of baptism, thou that art the sanc-
tilier of all things," were taken by the compilers of the Scotch form, and inserted within
crotchets [] in the first prayer at the beginning of the office after the words "mys-
tical washing away of sin ; " against which was added a direction in the margin That
" the water in the font should be changed twice in the month at least. And before any
child should be baptized in the water so changed, the Presbyter or Minister should say
at the font the words thus enclosed [ ]."
* Whosoever shall confess thee, O Lord, recognise him also in thy kingdom. Amen.
Grant that all sin and vice here may be so extinct, that they never have power to
reign in thy servants. Amen.
Grant that whosoever here shall begin to be of thy flock, may evermore continue in
the same. Amen.
Grant that all they which for thy sake, in this life, do deny and forsake themselve,
may win and purchase thee. O Lord, which art everlasting treasure. Amen.
t The words thus enclosed [ ] are only in the Scotch Liturgy.
' Script. Anglican, p. 481.
346 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHAP, vit
first prayer above mentioned was left out entirely, and the last
purged from those words, prepared for the ministration of the
Jioly Sacrament. And thus the form continued till the last
review, when a clause was again added to invocate the Spirit,
to sanctify the mater to the mystical mashing amay of sin.
Now by this is meant, not that the water contracts any new
quality in its nature or essence, by such consecration ; but
only that it is sanctified or made holy in its use, and separated
from common to sacred purposes. In order to which, though
the primitive Christians believed, as well as we do, that water
in general was sufficiently sanctified by the baptism of our
Saviour in the river Jordan ;" yet when any particular water
was at any time used in the administration of baptism, they
were always careful to consecrate it first by a solemn invoca-
tion of the Holy Spirit. 78
II. All things being thus prepared forthebap-
T tism of the child, the Minister is now to take it
into his hands, and to ask the godfathers and
godmothers to name it. For the Christian name being given
as a badge that we belong to Christ, we cannot more properly
take it upon us, than when we are enlisted under his banner.
We bring one name into the world with us, which we derive
from our parents, and which serves to remind us of our ori-
ginal guilt, and that we are born in sin : but this new name is
given us at our baptism, to remind us of our new birth, when,
being washed in the laver of regeneration, we are thereby
cleansed from our natural impurities, and become in a manner
new creatures, and solemnly dedicate ourselves to God. So
that the naming of children at this time hath been thought by
many to import something more than ordinary, and to carry
with it a mysterious signification. We find something like it
even among the heathens : for the Romans had a custom of
naming their children on the day of their lustration, (i. e. when
they were cleansed and washed from their natural pollution,)
which was therefore called D'ws nontinalis. And the Greeks
also, when they carried their infants, a little after their birth,
about the fire, (which was their ceremony of dedicating or
consecrating them to their gods,) were used at the same time
to give them their names.
" Ignat. ad Ephes. f. 18. Greg. Na*. CTU rw0A. See also St. Jerome and St. Am-
brose. * Cyprian. Ep. 70, p. 190. Anibr.de Sacram. 1. 2, c. 5, torn, iv.col. 359, K.
Daill. de Splr. Sanct. c. 27, torn. il. p. 211, A.
IECT. in.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 347
And that the Jews named their children at the time of cir-
cumcision, the holy Scriptures, 79 as well as their own writers,
expressly tell us. And though the rite itself of circumcision
was changed into that of baptism by our Saviour, yet he made
no alteration as to the time and custom of giving the name,
but left that to continue under the new, as he had found it
under the old dispensation. Accordingly we find this time
assigned and used to this purpose ever since : the Christians
continuing from the earliest ages to name their children at the
time of baptism. And even people of riper years commonly
changed their name, (as Saul, saith St. Ambrose, 80 at that time
changed his name to Paul,) especially if the name they had
before was taken from any idol or false god. For ..
_^ -i / i i i n i i Heathen orwan-
. the Nicene Council forbids the giving of heathen ton names pro-
names to Christians, and recommends the giving hlblted -
the name of some apostle or saint : 81 not that there is any for-
tune or merit in the name itself, but that, by such means, the
party might be stirred up to imitate the example of that holy
person whose name he bears. And by a provincial constitu-
tion of our own Church, made by archbishop Peccham, A. D.
1281, it is provided, that no wanton names be given to chil-
dren ; or if they be, that they be changed at Confirmation. 82
. 2. As to the appointment of the name, it To ^ . n .
may be pitched upon by the relations, (as we the godfathers,
may see has been the custom of old:) 83 but the andwh y-
rubric directs that it be dictated by the godfathers and god-
mothers. For this being the token of our new birth, it is fit
it should be given by those who undertake for our Christian-
ity, and engage that we shall be bred up and live like Chris-
tians; which being confirmed by the custom and authority of
the Church in all ages, is abundantly enough to justify the
practice, and satisfy us of the reasonableness of it.
III. After the name is thus given, tlte Priest
(if the godfather s< $c. certify him that the child T ^^^ sn
may well endure it} is to dip it in the water dis-
creetly and tcarily ; which was in all probability the way by
which our Saviour, and for certain was the usual and ordinary
way by which the primitive Christians did receive their bap-
tism. 84 And it must be allowed that by dipping, the ends and
79 Gen. xxi. 3, 4. Luke i. 59, 60, and chap. ii. 21. f In Dominic. Prim. Quadrag.
Serm. 2, Ordine 31, torn. v. col. 43, K. Vid. Canon. Arabic. Can. 30, torn. ii. col.
209, E. 8S See bishop Gibson's Codex, vol. i. p. 440. See also Cainden's Remains.
83 Ruth iv. 1 7. Luke i. 59. " Acts viii. 28. Rom. vi. 3, 4. Col. ii. 12. Const. Apost. 1. 3,
C. 17. Barnabas, c. 11, p. 70, edit. Oxon. 1685. Tert. de Bapt. c. 4, et de Orat. c. 11.
348 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHAP. TH.
effects of baptism are more significantly express-
immersion or 3 f .1 .1 J i
dipping most ed ; for as in immersion there are three several
primitive and acts, viz. the putting the person under water, his
significant. ,.,'. , , , . . .
abiding there for some time, and his rising up
again ; so by these were represented Christ's death, burial,
and resurrection ; and in conformity thereunto (as the Apos-
tle plainly shews 85 ) our dying unto sin, the destruction of its
But the ends of P ower > a d our resurrection to newness of life,
baptism answer- Though indeed affusion is not wholly without its
lon - signification, or entirely inexpressive of the end
of baptism. For as the immersing or dipping the body of the
baptized represents the burial of a dead person under ground ;
so also the affusion or pouring mater upon the party answers
to the covering or throwing earth upon the deceased. So
that both ceremonies agree in this, that they figure a death
and burial unto sin : and therefore though immersion be the
most significant ceremony of the two, yet it is not so neces-
sary but that affusion in some cases may supply the room of
it. For since baptism is only an external rite, representing
an internal and spiritual action, such an act is sufficient, as
fully represents to us the institution of baptism ; the divine
grace which is thereby conferred, being not measured by the
quantity of water used in the administration of it. It is true,
dipping and affusion are two different acts ; but yet the word
baptize implies them both : it being used frequently in Scrip-
ture to denote not only such washing as is performed by dip-
ping, but also such as is performed by pouring or rubbing
water upon the thing or person washed. 86 And therefore
when the Jews baptized their children, in order to circum-
cision, it seems to have been indifferent with them, whether
it was done by immersion or affusion. 87 And
" that the primitive Christians understood it in this
ome occasions latitude, is plain, from their administering this
ChrUtians" UtlVe holy sacrament in the case of sickness, haste,
want of water, or the like, by affusion, or pour-
ing water upon the face. Thus the jailor and his family, who
were baptized by St. Paul in haste, the same hour of the night
that they were converted and believed, 88 are reasonably sup-
Cosed to have been baptized by affusion : since it can hardly
e thought that at such an exigency they had water sufficient
* Rom. vi. 3.4. See Mark vii. 4, and Luke xi. 38, in the Greek, and Heb. ix.
10, also in the Greek, compared with Numbers viii. 7, and xix. 18, 19. ** Mischna
de Sabbat o, c. 19, f. 3. ** Act* xri. 33,
SECT, in.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 349
at hand to be immersed in. The same may be said concern-
ing Basilides, who, Eusebius tells us, was baptized by some
brethren in prison. 89 For the strict custody under which Chris-
tian prisoners were kept, (their tyrannical jailors hardly allow-
ing them necessaries for life, much less such conveniences as
they desired for their religion,) makes it more than probable
that this must have been done by affusion only of some small
quantity of water. And that baptism in this way was no un-
heard-of practice before this, may be gathered from Tertullian,
who, speaking of a person of uncertain repentance offering him-
self to be baptized, asks, Who mould help him to one single
sprinkling of water? 90 The Acts also of St. Laurence, who
suffered martyrdom about the same time as St. Cyprian, tell
us how one of the soldiers that were to be his executioners,
being converted, brought a pitcher of water for St. Laurence
to baptize him with. And lastly, St. Cyprian, being consulted
by one Magnus, in reference to the validity of clinick baptism,
(i. e. such as was administered to sick persons on their beds
by aspersion or sprinkling,) not only allows, but pleads for it
at large, both from the nature of the sacrament, and design of
the institution. 01 It is true, such persons as were so baptized,
were not ordinarily capable of being admitted to any office
in the Church ; 92 but then the reason of this, as is intimated
by the Council of Neocaesarea, was not that they thought this
manner of baptism was less effectual than the other, but be-
cause such a person's coming to the faith was not voluntary,
but of necessity. And therefore it was provided by the same
Council, that if the diligence and faith of a person so baptized
did afterwards prove commendable, or if the scarcity of others,
fit for the holy offices, did by any means require it, a clinick
Christian might be admitted into holy orders. 93 However,
except upon extraordinary occasions, baptism was seldom, or
perhaps never, administered for the four first centuries, but
by immersion or dipping. Nor is aspersion or sprinkling or-
dinarily used, to this day, in any country that was never sub-
ject to the pope. 94 And among those that submitted to his
authority, England was the last place where it was received. 95
Though it has never obtained so far as to be enjoined, dipping
89 Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1. 6, c. 5. *> Quis enim tibi, tarn infida Pcenitentise Viro,
asperginem unam cujuslibet Aquae commodabit 1 Tertull. de Pcenitentia, c. 6. 9I Cypr.
Ep. 69, ad Magnum, p. 185, &c. w Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1. 6, c. 43. *> Concil.
Neocaes. Can. 12. <* See this proved in Dr. Wall's History of Infant-Baptism, part
ii. chap. 9, . 2. Dr. Wall, ibid.
350 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHAP. vn.
having been always prescribed by the rubric. The Salisbury
Missal, printed in 1530, (the last that was in force before the
Reformation,) expressly requires and orders dipping. And
in the first Common Prayer Book of king Edward VI., the
Priest's general order is to dip it in the mater, so it be dis-
creetly and warily done ; the rubric only allowing, if the child
be weak, that then it shall suffice to pour water upon it. Nor
was there any alteration made in the following books, except
the leaving out the order to dip it thrice, which was prescribed
by the first book.
HOW affusion or However, it being allowed to weak children
sprinkling first (though strong enough to be brought to church)
' ice - to be baptized by affusion ; many fond ladies at
first, and then by degrees the common people, would persuade
the Minister that their children were too tender for dipping.
But what principally tended to confirm this practice was, that
several of our English divines flying into Germany and Switzer-
land, &c. during the bloody reign of queen Mary, and return-
ing home when queen Elizabeth came to the crown, brought
back with them a great love and zeal to the customs of those
Protestant Churches beyond sea, where they had been shel-
tered and received. And consequently having observed that
in Geneva, and some other places, baptism was ordered to be
performed by affusion, 96 they thought they could not do the
Church of England a greater piece of service, than to intro-
duce a practice dictated by so great an oracle as Calvin. So
that in the latter times of queen Elizabeth, and during the
reigns of king James and king Charles I., there were but very
few children dipped in the font. And therefore when the
questions and answers in relation to the sacraments were first
inserted at the end of the Catechism, upon the accession of
king James I. to the throne, the answer to the question, What
is the outward visible sign or form in baptism ? was this that
follows : Water, wherein the person baptized is dipped, or
sprinkled with it in the name of the Father, &c. And after-
wards, when the Directory was put out by the Parliament,
affusion (to those who could submit to their ordinance) began
to have a shew of establishment ; it being declared not only
lawful, but sufficient and most expedient that children sliould
be baptized, by pouring or sprinkling of water on the face.
** See Calvin's Institutes, 1. 4, c. IS, . 19, and Tractat. Theolog. CatechUmus, p. 57,
ed. Uezae, 1576.
SECT, in.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 351
And as it were for the further prevention of immersion or
dipping, it was particularly provided that baptism should not
be administered in the places where fonts, in the time of
popery, mere unfitly and superstitiously placed. And accord-
ingly (which was equal to the rest of their reformation) they
changed the font into a basin : which being brought to the
Minister in his reading desk, and the child being held below
him, he dipped in his fingers, and so took up water enough
just to let a drop or two fall on the child's face. 87 These re-
formers, it seems, could not recollect that fonts to baptize in
had been long used before the times of popery, and that they
had no where been discontinued from the beginning of Christi-
anity, but in such places where the pope had gained authority.
But our divines at the Restoration, understanding a little bet-
ter the sense of Scripture and antiquity, again restored the
order for immersion ; however, for prevention of any danger
to the child, the Priest is advised to be first certified that it
mitt well endure it. So that the difference between the old
rubric, and what it is now, is only this : As it stood before,
the Priest was to dip, unless there was an averment or allega-
tion of weakness ; as it stands now, he is not to dip, unless
there be an averment or certifying of strength, sufficient to
endure it.
This order, one would think, should be the most unexcep-
tionable of any that could be given ; it keeping as close to
the primitive rule for baptism, as the coldness of our region
and the tenderness wherewith infants are now used, will some-
times admit. Though Sir John Floyer, in a discourse on cold
baths, hath shewn, from the nature of our bodies, from the
rules of medicine, from modern experience, and from ancient
history, that nothing would tend more to the preservation of
a child's health, than dipping it in Baptism. However, the
parents not caring to make the experiment, take so much the
advantage of the reference that is made to their judgments
concerning the strength of their children, as never to certify
they may well endure dipping. It is true, indeed, the ques-
tion is now seldom asked ; because the child is always brought
in such a dress, as shews that there is no intention that it
should be dipped. For whilst dipping in the font continued
in fashion, they brought the child in such sort of clothing, as
might be taken off and put on again without any hinderance or
OT See Dr. Wall's History of Infant-Baptism, part ii. chap. 9, p. 403. Oxf. edit.
3.52 OF THE MINISTRATION [CHif. vn.
trouble. But since the Church not only permits, but requires
dipping, where it is certified the child may reell endure it .
and consequently since the Minister is always ready to dip,
whensoever it is duly required of him ; it is very hard that
any should urge the not dipping or immersing, as a plea for
separation.
Trine immersion , ; 2 - But to proceed : by king Edward's first
an ancient prac- book, the Minister is to dip the child in the wa-
ter thrice ; first dipping the right side ; secondly,
the left side : the third time, dipping the face toward the
font. This was the general practice of the primitive Church,
viz. to dip the person thrice, i. e. once at the name of each
Person in the Trinity, the more fully to express that sacred
mystery. 98 Though some later writers say this was done to re-
present the death, burial, and resurrection of our Saviour, to-
gether with his three days' continuance in the grave." St.
Austin joins both these reasons together, as a double mystery
of this ancient rite, as he is cited by Gratian to this purpose. 100
Several of the Fathers, that make mention of this custom, own,
that there is no command for it in Scripture : but then they
speak of it as brought into use by the Apostles ; l and therefore
the fiftieth of the Canons that are called Apostolical, deposes
any Bishop or Presbyter that administers Baptism without it.
But afterwards, when the Arians made a wick-
e ^ advantage of this custom, by persuading the
people that it was used to denote that the Persons
in the Trinity were three distinct substances ; it first became
a custom, 2 and then a law, 3 in the Spanish Church, only to use
one single immersion ; because that would express the Unity
of the Godhead, while the Trinity of Persons would be suf-
ficiently denoted by the person's being baptized in the name
of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. However, in other
parts of the Church, trine immersion most commonly prevailed,
as it does in the Greek Church to this very day. 4 Upon what
account it was omitted in the second book of king Edward, I
do not find : but there being no order in the room of it to con-
Tertull. adv. Prax. c. 26, p. 510, A. et de Coron. Mil. c. 3. Basil, de Sp. Sanct. c.
27. Hieron. adv. T.ucif. c. 4. Hierar. Ecclei. c. 2. Amhroa. de Sacram. 1. 2, c. 7. Can.
Ap. 50, Bas. 92, Leo. IX. Greg. Nys. de Bapt. Christi, torn. iii. p. 3, 72. Cyril.
Catech. Myotag. 2, n. 4. Leo, Ep.4, ad F.pU. Siculos, c. 3. > M Aug. Horn. 3, apud
Gratian. de Consecrat. Dist. 4. c. 78. ' Tertull. de Coron. Mil. c. 3, p. 102, A. Cyril.
Catcch. Mystag. 2, f. 4,paRe28, B. Sozomen. Hist. F.cclcs. 1. G,c. 26, p. 673, 1). Hieron.
adv. l.ucif. * Concil. Constant. Can. 7. Greg. Eplt. ad Leandrum, Rep. 1. 1, c. 41.
Coneil. Tolet. 4, Can. 6, torn. v. col. 1700. See Sir Paul Rycaut and Dr. Smith's
Account* of the Greek Church.
SECT, in.] OF PUBLIC BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 353
fine the Minister to a single immersion, I presume it is left to
his judgment and discretion to use which he pleases.
IV. When the Priest dips or pours water upon
the child, he is to say, (calling the child by its The W or f
name,) N. / baptize thee, which was always the
form of the Western Church. The Eastern Church useth a
little variation, Let N. be baptized, &c., 5 or else, The servant
of God, such a one is baptized, &c. ;" but the sense is much the
same : however, in the next words, viz. in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, all orthodox
Christians did ever agree ; because they are of Christ's own
appointment, and for that reason unalterable. Wherefore,
when the heretics presumed to vary from this form, they were
censured by the Church, and those baptisms declared null,
which were not administered in the name of the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost. Some indeed took liberty to mingle a pa-
raphrase with them, baptizing in the name of the Father who
sent, of the Son that came, and of the Holy Ghost that wit-
nessed ,- 7 but our reformers thought it more prudent to pre-
serve our Lord's own words entire, without addition or di-
minution.
Now by baptizing in the name of three Persons, is not only
meant that it is done by the commission and authority of
God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; but also that we are
baptized into the faith of the holy Trinity ; and are received
into that society of men, who are distinguished from all false
professions in the world, by believing in three Persons and
one God.
V. By the first Common Prayer of king Ed-
ward, after the child was thus baptized, t